PIMFA welcomes intervention from Financial Conduct Authority CEO Nikhil Rathi in debate over online financial harms

20 April 2021

PIMFA welcomes intervention from Financial Conduct Authority CEO Nikhil Rathi in debate over online financial harms

PIMFA, the trade association for wealth management, investment services and the investment and financial advice industry, welcomes the intervention today (20 April 2021) from Financial Conduct Authority chief executive Nikhil Rathi in the debate on online financial harm.

PIMFA, alongside Which? UK Finance, The Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, The Carnegie Trust and others continue to believe that the best way to protect consumers from fraud perpetrated by organised criminals and increasingly carried out online is through the inclusion of financial harm in the Government’s upcoming Online Safety Bill, which we expect to be included in the Queen’s Speech next month.

Liz Field, Chief Executive of PIMFA commented: “The financial services industry has along with charities, consumer campaigners and others such as the Financial Services Compensation Scheme called for financial harm to be included in the Online Safety Bill for some time.

“Importantly, now the UK’s financial services regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, is calling on the Government to do more to protect consumers from financial harm. This is a welcome and much needed intervention and shows the strength of the case for including financial harm in the Online Safety Bill.

“Nikhil Rathi is absolutely right to call for the Government to take action to provide better financial protection for consumers online and call for online search and social media firms to take greater responsibility for protecting consumers too.

“The Online Safety Bill is one of the clearest ways to provide a legal framework that provides consumers with greater protection from online fraud that is being carried out every day by organised criminals, with the proceeds from such frauds being used to fund their other activities.

“PIMFA and our partners in this campaign continue to urge the Government to reconsider including financial harm in the Online Safety Bill. Doing so would save thousands of potential victims suffering enormous distress and would be one of the best possible ways to disrupt organised crime.”

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Notes for Editors:

About PIMFA – the Personal Investment Management & Financial Advice Association

• PIMFA is the trade association for firms that provide investment management, investment services and advice to everyone from individuals and families to charities, pension funds, trusts and companies.
• The sector currently looks after £1.65 trillion in private savings and investments and employs over 63,000 people.
• PIMFA represents both full and associate member firms. Full members provide a range of financial solutions including financial advice, portfolio management, as well as investment and execution services. They assist everyone from individuals and families, to charities and pension funds, all the way to trusts and companies.  Associate members provide professional services to the PIMFA community.
• PIMFA leads the debate on policy and regulatory recommendations to ensure that the UK remains a global centre of excellence in the wealth management, investment advice and financial planning arena. Our mission is to create an optimal operating environment so that its member firms can focus on delivering the best service to clients, providing responsible stewardship for their long-term savings and investments.
• PIMFA has made numerous recommendations to the FCA regarding the Future of Advice, the Future of Supervision  the FSCS levy – read more.
• PIMFA was created in 2017 as the outcome of a merger between the Association  of Professional Financial Advisers (APFA) and the Wealth Management Association (WMA) with a history as a trade association since 1991 – read more.
• Further information can be found at pimfa.co.uk

Contact

For further information on this release or other press matters please contact:

• Matthew West, PIMFA PR Manager – MatthewW@pimfa.co.uk, +44 (0)20 7382 0376
• Sheena Gillett, PIMFA Communications & PR Director – sheenag@pimfa.co.uk, +44 (0)20 7011 9869 / +44 (0)7979 493225