A working group has been formed to advance several of the recommendations from a task force designed to improve access to financial advice in the United Kingdom, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced on Monday.
The financial advice working group will pursue three of the recommendations of the U.K. Financial Advice Market Review (FAMR), which were published in March.
In particular, the working group will be responsible for working with employers to develop a guide on ways to support employees’ financial health, and devise a strategy for rolling this out; leading a task force to design a set of rules of thumb and nudges to increase consumer engagement; and publishing a shortlist of potential new terms to describe ‘guidance’ and ‘advice’.
Other than these three specific recommendations, the working group will not be responsible for pursuing any of the other FAMR recommendations, which aim to stimulate a market that provides affordable and accessible financial advice, consumer-friendly innovation, and greater consumer engagement. The FCA and the U.K. Treasury will be responsible for various other recommendations in the report, although the working group will act as a source of ongoing expertise to the FCA and the Treasury.
The working group includes a selection of consumer and industry experts from the FAMR Expert Advisory Panel, the Financial Services Consumer Panel, the FCA Smaller Business Practitioner Panel, and the FCA Practitioner Panel.
“Its members have been selected on the basis of their expertise and interest in advice and guidance, and also their ability to attend meetings and to contribute to its work. They will act in a personal capacity rather than represent the views of their firm or organization,” the FCA said an announcement.