Category
Compliance & Consumer Duty
Practical thinking on FCA rules, Consumer Duty and evidencing good client outcomes.
Category
13 articles
All articles
Preparing for a file review: a practical plan for advice firms
How to prepare for a file review by the FCA, your network or a compliance consultant: check your own files first, fix what you find, and show a clear trail from findings to remediation and better outcomes.
AI data protection and UK GDPR: a guide for advice firms
What the ICO expects when an advice firm uses AI with client data: the DPIA, lawful basis, controller and processor roles, and how the FCA's reliance on existing rules fits alongside UK GDPR. A practical plan.
Recording client meetings: the rules for financial advisers
What the FCA rules actually say about recording client meetings, why COBS 11.8 moved to SYSC 10A, what is and is not required for face-to-face meetings, and good practice if you do record.
The Consumer Duty board report: a practical guide for advice firms
What PRIN 2A.8 asks of your annual Consumer Duty board report, what the FCA found in year two, and how to make your management information link clearly to client outcomes and decisions.
Training and competence for financial advisers: rules and evidence
The training and competence rules for financial advisers in plain English: CPD hours, the Statement of Professional Standing and regular competence reviews, and how to evidence competence consistently.
Vulnerable clients in financial advice: spotting the signs in meetings
How advice firms can identify vulnerable clients in meetings using the FCA's FG21/1 definition and four drivers, what the latest FCA figures show, and how to record the adjustments you make.
CP26/10 explained: periodic reviews and a single attitude to risk
A clear guide to what CP26/10 proposes for pensions and investment advice, including periodic reviews based on clients' needs and a single attitude to risk concept, and what firms should do in the meantime.
Competency assessment without the spreadsheet
Competency assessment is a regulatory expectation that many firms meet with spreadsheets and memory. Freeboard assesses against a versioned, dated standard, in minutes, using meetings you already record.
Suitability report requirements: COBS 9 and 9A in plain English
The suitability report requirements in COBS 9.4.7R and COBS 9A.3.3R explained clearly, with a practical structure for writing reports that meet the rules and that clients will actually read.See it before you decide.
Six apps that take file checks, annual reviews, client documents and meeting coaching off the desk, from £49 per adviser per month. See them run live on a demo firm in a twenty-minute call, with nothing to prepare.