The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has outlined its plans for changes to consumer credit regulatory returns. The publication of Policy Statement PS25/3 follows last year’s CP24/19 consultation. The BVRLA submitted a response on behalf of members, drawing on feedback from its committees and working groups.
The changes aim to make the FCA’s regulation of the sector more efficient and targeted, in support of its strategic objectives. The new rules are particularly relevant to members involved in credit broking, debt adjusting, and debt counselling.
The FCA will now be better able to identify firms with unnecessary permissions, helping to prevent the misuse of authorisations.
A new regulatory return will be introduced, collecting data in five key areas:
- Permissions
- Business model
- Marketing
- Revenue
- Staff.
Following industry feedback - including the BVRLA’s - the FCA has reduced the number of questions in the return by 27%, removing those which were overly complex or required data not commonly collected by firms. This addresses one of the BVRLA’s primary concerns and should ease the administrative burden for members.
The FCA also considered concerns about implementation timelines, and with the simplified return now in place, the original timeline is expected to be manageable.
Read the full Policy Statement here: PS25/3: Consumer Credit Regulatory Returns.
For questions or further clarification, contact [email protected].
