PIMFA Live Online Learning: Masterclass: How to Prepare, Write and Review Your First Consumer Duty Board Report

The FCA expects your first Consumer Duty Board report to be ‘signed, sealed, and delivered’ in less than five months. At their peril, firms underestimate the time, process, and planning required to produce a Board-approved report by 31 July 2024.

The stakes are high, and although there is a temptation to populate a template, your first Consumer Duty Board Report is a critical document that must be personalised to suit your firm.

The FCA has put firms on notice, reminding them that they will “need to be able to provide it [their Board Reports], and the management information that sits behind it, on request” – the key here being the evidence that sits behind it.

As time is of the essence, PIMFA, in partnership with consultancy firm Square 4, has designed this three-hour masterclass to help you compile your first Consumer Duty annual assessment report in line with FCA expectations.

Format

Part one of this online masterclass takes you step by step through how to best prepare, structure, format and populate your report. In part two, you will, with the support of regulatory experts, drill down into the 10 critical elements of your Board report that Square 4 has identified will attract greater FCA scrutiny.

Content

This live and interactive masterclass will address the ten critical elements of the Board report that firms must get right:

1. The Executive Summary
2. Customer outcome monitoring
3. Root cause analysis
4. Actions
5. 3LOD assurance
6. Culture and purpose
7. FCA engagement
8. Consumer Duty Champion
9. Business strategy
10. Board approval

Key questions this masterclass will answer includes, how your firm can:

1. What does a detailed and well evidenced Report Board Report look like?
2. Determine what resources you need to put the Board Report together
3. Reveal and address the gaps in your outcomes monitoring framework and Reporting
4. Obtain an appropriate range of relevant qualitative and quantitative metrics
5. Ensure that the report is effectively owned doesn’t get stuck in the second line
6. Retain a sense of proportionality, whilst retaining the quality and completeness the FCA expects
7. Evidence that your firm’s culture and purpose align with the Duty
8. Identify and document poor outcomes, detailing the remedial action(s) taken
9. Grasp what good practice looks like when it comes to documenting your approach to vulnerable customers
10. Demonstrate that there has been robust engagement, scrutiny and challenge from Senior Management, NEDS and the Consumer Duty Board champion
11. Construct a plan to improve outcomes and evolve compliance with the Duty
12. Assess how future business strategy is consistent with the Duty

By attending this masterclass, you will be able to:

1. Follow a clear plan of action to produce a Board Report that aligns to the FCA’s guidance
2. Compare your approach to Board Reporting with industry peers and regulatory expectations
3. Reflect, in your report, the perspectives and priorities of the Board/governing body
4. Develop a clear approach to writing a Report that is purposely, focused and more balanced
5. Employ proven design principles, in line with industry good practice
6. Avoid the trap of presenting too much data and too little information
7. Making the mistake of Reporting too much on what has happened
8. Reflect in your content, the areas the FCA will focus and scrutinise
9. Use the time to complete a robust ‘dry run’ to identify any gaps and issues
10. Create a plan of action up to July, to allow for any necessary reviews and governance steps

Who should attend this masterclass?

Consumer Duty Champions/ Non-Executive Director (NED) who need to know that the Board report reflects the concerns of the Board and contains the MI, evidence and supporting commentary for a robust discussion and debate to occur before the 31 July 2024.

Board members of firms who have already created their annual Board report or are advanced in their preparations and now seek assurance that the work undertaken to date is complete and aligned with regulatory expectations and industry good practice.

Senior executives concerned that their plans and preparations are falling behind schedule which now need a reboot with a clear set of roles and responsibilities and a plan of action to produce the report by 31 July 2024.