REGULATORY EXPERTISE
The importance of independent file reviews
Ensuring your own file review processes remain effective is essential to good customer outcomes .
Paul Bruns
Compliance Director Simplybiz
Regulation is ever evolving and , as such , we are continually reviewing and revising our services to ensure that our members and clients have the right support . Under the Consumer Duty , firms must evidence that they are delivering good outcomes for customers , which includes continuously monitoring and addressing any issues that could cause future foreseeable harm to consumers . A structured and robust file assessment programme helps you to demonstrate advice suitability and the good outcomes you are providing for your customers . Using a knowledgeable and impartial third party to undertake or examine your review process not only saves time , it also strengthens the credibility of review outcomes . However , finding someone with both the expertise and impartiality at a competitive price can be extremely difficult and time-consuming . Our unbiased experts can assist you through our Advice Quality service , helping you to meet FCA expectations and demonstrate effective outcome monitoring . The Advice Quality team are as a minimum level 4 qualified with specialist qualifications in pension transfers , long-term care and equity release . We continually receive positive feedback from our members on our file review services . We are delighted to introduce two new services designed to help our members to build and evidence robust review processes , and ensure that internal checking is robust and in line with current FCA expectations .
Annual Review service
Can you evidence that your ongoing annual review files meet current FCA requirements ?
Earlier this year , the FCA fired its first warning shot towards the advice sector about the delivery of ongoing services in the form of an information request sent to 20 of the largest advice firms . We expect the outcome will be further regulatory work in this area expanding out to other firms . It is now a requirement for firms to carry out annual Consumer Duty outcomes monitoring and an important feature of this process will be reviewing the delivery of ongoing services . An annual review assessment checks that your annual reviews are suitably documented to meet regulatory expectations . You will receive an in-depth review of the file with detailed feedback aligned to FCA outcomes .
Check the Checker service
How can you demonstrate that your internal filechecking process is aligned to FCA expectations ?
Our Check the Checker file assessment process will review both the client file and your internal file review output to determine whether your internal reviewing process is suitably robust , identifying trends and also training needs . You will receive detailed feedback to identify any gaps in your assessing standards to improve the quality of your existing internal file assessments .
Learn more - Email aqtmanagers @ compliancefirst . co . uk for more information . More information on how to use this service , the documentation required and pricing can be found in the Compliance Specialist section of our member and client websites .
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