FCA Consulting on Extending FOS to SMEs, and is working on GDPR with the ICO

19/02/2018

Currently the Financial Ombudsman Service is only for consumers, however, the FCA is consulting on extending access to small and medium sized businesses

Currently the Financial Ombudsman Service is only for consumers, however, the FCA is consulting on extending access to small and medium sized businesses. This would extend FOS support to around 160,000 additional firms including all NPA members.  The consultation on the FCA website, closes on the 22 April 2018.

 

GDPR (Data Protection Regs May 2018)

The FCA have stated-   “Compliance with GDPR is now a board level responsibility, and firms must be able to produce evidence to demonstrate the steps that they have taken to comply. The requirement to treat customers fairly is also central to both data protection law and the current financial services regulatory framework.”

On 25 May 2018 the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) supersedes the Data Protection Directive. The GDPR was designed to harmonise data privacy regulations across Europe. The new regulations are an extension of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) that add explicit requirements and introduce new obligations.  It applies to all organisations that control and process data.  The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate compliance with the GDPR itself. However, it does supervise the systems and controls of a firm’s senior management established to comply with the GDPR:

“While the ICO will regulate the GDPR, complying with the GDPR requirements is also something the FCA will consider under their rules, for example, the requirements in the Senior Management Arrangements, Systems and Controls (SYSC) module. As part of their obligations under SYSC, firms should establish, maintain and improve appropriate technology and cyber resilience systems and controls.”

Places are still available for the NPA/ Next Steps GDPR Event on 6th March in Derby contact kristy.bielby@thenpa.com