By the end of December 2008, the FSA expects all firms involved in retail business to be able to demonstrate, through the use of management information, that they consistently treat their customers fairly in compliance with Principle 6 of the FSA's Principles for Business.
The FSA has made it clear that firms meeting its TCF deadlines will receive less regulatory scrutiny of their TCF arrangements. However, failure to meet the FSA's deadlines will result in increased FSA intervention.
It is worth noting that some market commentators have criticised the regulator's use of internal management information as a point of reference in measuring good customer treatment noting that there is little or no evidence to link the two.
However, TCF continues as a high priority in the eyes of the regulator and they have made it clear that the increased financial pressure on firms resulting from the current adverse economic conditions is no excuse for firms to focus more on immediate problems and not on conduct of business requirements.
A reminder of what is required from December can be found
at:
http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pubs/other/tcf_deadline.pdf
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