The Complaints Commissioner recently published a report
that contained numerous concerning observations about a case, and
observations more broadly about the handling of complaints by the
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
, Chair of the
Treasury Committee, has written to the Complaints Commissioner
for views on how well the FCA has dealt with its concerns.
Mr Stride has also written to the FCA for views on whether
it has addressed these concerns, how this situation arose, and
how it will be prevented in the future.
Mr Stride’s outgoing letters and responses from the
Complaints Commissioner and FCA have been published today.
Commenting on the correspondence, Mr Stride said:
“The Complaints Scheme requires that those who complain to
the FCA should be provided with timescales; their complaint
should be dealt with by people with sufficient seniority; and
their complaint should be resolved as swiftly as possible with
the aim of satisfying the complainant.
“Whilst it is troubling that the Commissioner has stated that
these requirements are not currently being met in some of the
cases that reach him, he has also noted that the FCA is making
genuine attempts to address these complaints-handling
problems.
“The Commissioner, though, has stated that the FCA has not
yet solved these problems. It is welcome, therefore, that the FCA
has committed to addressing these issues.
“The Treasury Committee will expect to see real progress from
the FCA in this area and will be seeking regular updates
including in our evidence sessions with the FCA.”
--Ends--
Notes to Editors
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The following letters are attached:
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Mr Stride to Charles Randell CBE, Chair of the FCA –
30 April 2020
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Mr Stride to Anthony Townsend, Financial Services
Complaints Commissioner – 30 April 2020
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Response from Mr Townsend – 11 May 2020
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Response from Mr Randell – 2 June 2020
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The Complaints Commissioner’s role is to review
independently complaints about the actions or inactions of the
UK’s current financial services regulators, the FCA, the
Prudential Regulation Authority and the Bank of England (but
only in respect of its oversight of the banking clearing houses
and payment schemes), and also the Payments Systems
Regulator.
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The Final Report published by the Complaints Commissioner
on 3 April 2020 is here.
