The Financial Conduct Authority is to host a series of webinars to help advisers firms prepare for the new FCA Consumer Duty.

The webinars in October and November have been designed to help firms understand the regulator’s expectations and to prepare for implementation.

The webinars have been separated by product area.

The consumer investments, pensions and asset management focused webinar will be hosted on 18 October at 2pm.

The insurance and protection sector will be covered on 18 October at 10am.

The sessions will focus on:

• The FCA’s expectation for firms under Consumer Duty
• Key milestones during the implementation period
• What is outcomes-based regulation?
• What the Consumer Duty means for your sector

The webinars will be live, with advisers offered the opportunity to present their Consumer Duty-related questions to the regulator.

Registration is required for each webinar and all the webinars will also be available in recorded format after the events.

Advisers can find out more about the FCA’s planned Consumer Duty events and register for the webinars at https://www.fca.org.uk/firms/consumer-duty-events

The FCA’s new duty is one of the biggest overhauls to UK financial regulation since the Retail Distribution Review.

It will introduce a sweeping new set of rules which will require firms to do more to protect consumers from harm and bad financial decisions.

From July, firms will be required to do everything possible to avoid “consumer harm” at every step of the customer journey.

The new rules are focused on the provision of value to consumers and evidencing it.

Under the new rules, which will come into force in July, Financial Planning firms will be required to:

• Act in good faith towards retail customers
• Avoid foreseeable harm to retail customers
• Enable and support retail customers to pursue their financial objectives

Financial Planning firms will have to provide consumers with information they can understand, offer products and services that are fit for purpose, and provide helpful customer service.

Firms will also have to evidence what they are doing to meet the duty.