'Elephant in the jungle': FCA chief addresses Consumer Duty worries

Regulator has overcome ‘biggest stumbling blocks’ in rule implementation

Julia Bahr
clock • 3 min read

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) chief executive Nikhil Rathi addressed concerns around the incoming Consumer Duty in a speech at the UK Finance Annual Dinner yesterday (16 November), stating it was the "elephant in the jungle" that needed to be tackled.

He said the regulator's role was to seize opportunities whilst navigating the rules of sometimes dangerous terrain. "Or as one commentator wrote recently, the jungle." In his view, the ‘Consumer Duty elephant' in this jungle had to be addressed. He pointed out that the FCA had overcome the ‘biggest stumbling blocks' in the design and implementation of the new rules. Rathi said: "We know that you have concerns about the Consumer Duty. How do we measure it? How could we quantify it? How do we monitor it? "Parliament debated and explicitly mandated the Consumer Duty due to falling pub...

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