What's ahead for consumer finance?

Once again, 2023 promises to be a year of regulatory change. With a mixture of reforms already agreed and yet to be implemented, consultations underway and the promise of more to come, all regulated firms in the UK will be viewing the coming months with some trepidation. Emma Radmore and Duncan Scott discuss what may be in store for consumer finance firms.

Emma Radmore(legal director) and Duncan Scott(associate) are members of Womble Bond Dickinson's financial services team in London. Contact them onemma.radmore@wbd-uk.com and duncan.scott@wbd-uk.com.

The Consumer Duty

At the forefront of everyone's agenda for 2023 is (or should be) implementation of the Consumer Duty. When the Financial Conduct Authority consulted on and then finalised its rules and guidance for the Duty, firms had just under a year to put in place plans to ensure they would be in compliance with the new requirements. It may have sounded a long time but, in fact, for most firms, the amount of analysis and planning necessary to demonstrate that they would be on track to achieve outcomes it sounded as if firms ought already to be meeting, has proved more daunting than anticipated.