Retail Banking Firm Supervisor – Consumer Duty

The FCA regulates the conduct of 45,000 firms in the UK to ensure our financial markets are honest, fair and competitive. Follow this link to find out more About the FCA.

The Retail Banking Directorate is responsible for the supervision and policy making for retail banking activities and mortgages in the UK, including those undertaken by the largest retail banking groups. We deliver the conduct agenda through a combination of firm-specific, sector-wide, and event-driven activity to deliver better outcomes for UK customers.

This is a significant market, impacting a wide range of consumers, including consumers with characteristics of vulnerability. Our priority is to ensure that firms in this sector operate with consumers’ interests at the heart of their business. We act to reduce harm to consumers and want borrowers to be treated fairly and be able to get affordable products that meet their needs.

What will you be doing?
As part of one of our Portfolio teams, your role will be dual focused, with responsibility to help us embed the Consumer Duty, which sets high and clear standards of protection for retail customers across financial services. But you will also be at the heart of developing supervisory strategies to proactively manage different risks across a diverse range of banking business models including mid-tier Northern Irish Banks, overseas banks and digital banks and ensure consumers are always put first, as well as overseeing remediation where firms have fallen short of our expectations.

To help us continue to embed consumer duty into our supervision of firms we are looking for a senior associate to join us in Retail Banking supervision. Key responsibilities include:

• Contributing to the development, implementation and oversight of effective, assertive supervisory strategies to address key risks of harm and recommend supervisory interventions where appropriate. With particular focus on the embedding of the Consumer Duty in our supervisory strategies, activities, and communications
• Acting as a central point of contact within Supervision for Consumer Duty queries
• Building and maintaining effective relationships with stakeholders, including at a senior level, both internally and externally, including influencing senior management at firms to deliver better customer outcomes, including discussions regarding the culture, business model, governance and systems and controls within their firms.
• Contributing to the design and delivery of local training for front-line FCA staff
• Analysing firms’ business models and strategies and identifying the key risks of harm, dealing with complex problems, and finding solutions
• Reviewing information and data to inform effective judgements and prioritisation e.g., through supporting supervisors form judgements, undertaking firm assessments, working on event-driven (reactive) work in response to firm issues / industry developments or the leading of multi-firm project work
• Contributing to the wider Department and Division, including making recommendations for continuous improvement of our processes, supporting colleagues and identification of sector-wide risks and issues