MorganAsh Hosts FCA Discussion as Firms Face Growing Pressure on Consumer Duty Reporting

Support services provider MorganAsh is urging financial services firms to strengthen how they evidence outcomes for vulnerable customers, as regulatory scrutiny of Consumer Duty board reports intensifies ahead of July’s reporting deadline.

Recent reviews by the FCA have highlighted significant weaknesses in board reporting across the sector, with too many firms relying on anecdotal evidence rather than having robust data to demonstrate whether vulnerable customer groups are receiving fair and equitable outcomes.

MorganAsh argues that the issue stems from a lack of meaningful customer vulnerability data, leaving firms unable to identify their vulnerable customers, let alone track outcomes, understand patterns and support needs or evidence compliance under Consumer Duty.

The call comes as MorganAsh prepares to host an industry webinar featuring Stephanie Chapman, Consumer Duty delivery manager at the FCA, in a rare opportunity to hear directly from the regulator on what effective reporting looks like in practice. The regulator will also discuss how firms can benchmark themselves against their peers and financial services as a whole, and what action the regulator is taking when non-compliance is identified.

For most firms, the next board report is due by 31 July 2026, in line with the FCA’s requirement that boards review and approve reports at least annually to assess whether the firm is delivering good outcomes for retail customers – including vulnerable customers. The first reports were due by 31 July 2024, exactly one year on from implementation – establishing the annual cycle.

Andrew Gething, managing director of MorganAsh, said: “Consumer Duty has undoubtedly raised the bar on what firms need to know about their customers and the outcomes they receive – particularly for vulnerable customers. Despite intervention from the regulator and tremendous guidance – especially from the likes of the CII – many firms are still struggling to collect customer vulnerability data – let alone convert that into actionable management information.

“This creates two problems: first, it limits the ability of firms to spot issues early, make necessary improvements to products or services and improve outcomes. Secondly, it means the annual reporting required by Consumer Duty is always a scramble and a complete shot in the dark. The firms that are doing this well are those with robust systems and processes, generating quality structured data that allows them to evidence progress and demonstrate good outcomes.

“With several hundred people registering for each event, our webinar series has continued to grow from strength to strength – and having the FCA join us for this discussion is great proof of that. Having Stephanie’s input will be hugely valuable as it gives firms direct insight into what good looks like, what stands up to scrutiny and importantly, where are firms falling short.”

MorganAsh is a specialist in Consumer Duty and customer vulnerability. The firm launched its award-winning MARS platform to help firms understand and monitor vulnerable customers and deliver good outcomes – as required by Consumer Duty. It is in use across financial services and the utilities sector, enabling businesses to adopt a consistent approach to identifying vulnerable characteristics and generate an objective Resilience Rating – much like a credit score.