The FCA is responsible primarily for the conduct of wholesale and retail financial markets, in relation

to marketing and providing products and services to customers. The FCA also has responsibility for
the prudential regulation of some 49,000 smaller firms. Examples include investment managers,
financial advisers, small insurers and mortgage and insurance brokers.

In simple terms, the PRA is responsible for the way in which large firms, whose failure could damage
the whole financial system, manage their assets and maintain financial stability; and the FCA is
responsible for the way all firms market and sell their products, and how smaller firms manage their
assets and maintain financial stability.

The FCA has one strategic objective:

1. to ensure that the relevant markets function well.

It has three operational objectives to support the strategic objective:

2. „ to secure an appropriate degree of protection for consumers;

3. „ to protect and enhance the integrity of the UK financial system;
4. „ to promote effective competition in the interests of consumers.

In its 2017 publication, Our Mission 2017: How we regulate financial services, the FCA describes how
the identification of harm – potential harm or markets not working as well as they could – is a key part
of its remit. It describes five types of potential harm that could be suffered by consumers, how their
prevention links to the FCA operational objectives, and the steps it will take to reduce harm to users

FCA Client/customer categories

1. Retail Client - Joe public, inexperienced people or organisations.

2. Professional Client - Per sey professional clients or institutions
3. Elective Professional clients - people who have the appropriate level of expertise, (They must
accept they are professional)
4. Eligible Counterparties - Business related others who have suitable business capability and
are Eligible business clients that do not require advice just execution of financial business.

------------------------------------------

Responsibilities of the Competition and Markets Authority

In situations where competition could be unfair or consumer choice may be affected, the CMA is
responsible for:[12]

1. investigating phase 1 and phase 2 mergers[13]

2. conducting market studies and market investigations[14]
3. investigating possible breaches of prohibitions against anti-competitive agreements under the
Competition Act 1998
4. bringing criminal proceedings against individuals who commit cartels offences
5. enforcing consumer protection legislation, particularly the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract
Directive and Regulations
6. encouraging regulators to use their competition powers
7. considering regulatory references and appeals
8. regulation of public sector subsidies to business
9. oversight of the UK internal market
----------------------------------

Minimum Retention periods

Pensions

A firm must retain its records relating to suitability for a minimum of the following periods:

(1) if relating to a pension transfer, pension conversion, pension opt-out or FSAVC, indefinitely;

(2) if relating to a life policy, personal pension scheme, stakeholder pension scheme or benefits in a
defined contribution occupational pension scheme

(unless otherwise falling in (1) above), five years; and

(4) in any other case, three years.

------------------------------------------------

Ethics

 Deontological - rule based (stick to the rules weather the result is favourable or not)
 Utilitarianism - That which suite the majority or produces the best result (Needs of the many)
 Norm - Whole group follows a set of firm guidlines/rules (employee handbook)
 Kantian - Speaks to people as a group. No one uses another to further hsi/her own ends.
 Applied ethics - ethics with respect to real-world actions and their moral considerations in the
areas of private and public life.
 Meta-ethics - is the study of the nature, scope, and meaning of moral judgment.
 Normative ethics - questions of how one ought to be and act
 Natural ethics - places moral decisiosn in the realm of the natural world or hmumans and
society.
-----------------------------------------------------------

The PRA has three statutory objectives:

The PRA is responsible for the prudential regulation of banks, building societies, credit unions,
insurers and major investment firms. It is not responsible for the conduct regulation of these firms; that
is the responsibility of the Financial

The PRA has three objectives:

1. promote the safety and soundness of the firms [it] regulate[s];

2. contribute to securing an appropriate degree of protection for insurance policyholders;
3. facilitate effective competition between firms (Bank of England, 2021).

All firms are subject to a standard minimum (‘baseline’) level of supervision, which comprises:

1. ensuring the firm’s compliance with capital prudential standards;

2. liquidity, value of assets, provisioning and reserves;
3. an annual assessment of the risks posed by the firm to the PRA’s objectives;
4. assessment of the firm’s contingency plans for recovery and potential exit
5. from the market

The PRA's role is defined in terms of two statutory objectives: to promote the safety and soundness of
the firms it regulates and, specifically for insurers, to contribute to the securing of an appropriate
degree of protection for policyholders (section 12 of the PRA Statement of Policy).[9] In promoting
safety and soundness, the PRA focuses primarily on the harm that firms can cause to the stability of
the UK financial system. A stable financial system is one in which firms continue to provide critical
financial services – a precondition for a healthy and successful economy.

The PRA's approach to regulation and supervision has three characteristics:[12]

A judgement-based approach: The PRA will use judgement in determining whether financial firms are
safe and sound, whether insurers provide appropriate protection for policyholders and whether firms
continue to meet the threshold conditions.

A forward-looking approach: The PRA will assess firms not just against current risks, but also against
those that could plausibly arise in the future. Where the PRA judges it necessary to intervene, it will
generally aim to do so at an early stage.

A focused approach: The PRA will focus on those issues and those firms that pose the greatest risk to
the stability of the UK financial system and policyholders.

The PRA approach to supervision will not seek to operate a "zero-failure" regime. Rather, the PRA will
seek to ensure that a financial firm which fails does so in a way that avoids significant disruption to the
supply of critical financial services.[13]

------------------------------------------------------