The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published feedback to its December 2023 advice guidance boundary review. The review included a number of proposals to improve how people can access help with their pensions and retail investments.
The FCA highlights that: (i) most respondents agreed that the FCA's proposals are a positive step towards improving consumer outcomes and agreed with the proposals outlined in the paper; (ii) the Financial Services Consumer Panel challenged the FCA to realize the full ambition of this review and encouraged the FCA to keep an open mind on what may be needed to achieve the strategic aims of the review; and (iii) there was concern about the risks of developing new forms of regulated help, including the need to ensure people fully understood the support they were being offered and what protections would be provided.
The FCA plans to consult: (a) in December on targeted support for pensions savers; and (b) in H1 2025 on draft FCA rules to apply across retail investments and pensions. The FCA has also issued a joint statement with the Pensions Regulator and the Information Commissioner's Office to provide guidance to firms on communicating with their pensions and retail investments customers.
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