From FCA Applications to Education Champions: A Week in Compliance

Unknown Speaker

Hello and welcome back to the B-Compliant Podcast. I’m Vicky, and I’m here with Rachel to talk about what’s really been going on with FCA applications lately.

Rachel MacRae

Hi everyone... Now when Vicky says “what’s really been going on”, she means the exciting world of allocation times and document analysis. Try to contain yourselves.

Unknown Speaker

Look, we never promised glamour. It has actually been a relatively quiet week on the FCA front, especially for the firms we support. Most of the official noise has been around motor finance commission complaints and Buy Now Pay Later, and neither of those really apply directly to B-Compliant clients.

Rachel MacRae

Exactly. So rather than pick through regulatory publications that aren’t that relevant to the firms we support, we thought we’d share what we are seeing day to day with FCA applications, because we’re currently supporting a number of them, which gives us a pretty up‑to‑date view of how the FCA’s approach is evolving.

Unknown Speaker

Now, the FCA announced last year that it wants to reduce application timelines, and that part of the improvement would come from more use of technology, potentially including AI, to speed up document analysis. We can’t tell you exactly what systems they’re using, but the style and nature of the questions we’re seeing do suggest that technology may be playing a bigger role behind the scenes.

Rachel MacRae

What we’re actually seeing on the ground is a bit of a mixed picture. Since the FCA’s target for reduced waiting times kicked in from January, we’ve experienced longer waits for allocation to a case officer – up to about eight weeks at the moment – but then noticeably quicker processing once that case officer is assigned.

Unknown Speaker

So, the suspense phase is dragging on a bit, but once you finally get to the main event, things move faster. Early signs suggest that overall application times may be trending down, but it really is too early to say with any certainty that the FCA is consistently hitting its revised timescales.

Rachel MacRae

One of the more interesting developments we’ve seen is around how case officers are engaging once they’ve done their initial review. A firm we support recently received an email from their case officer asking for an introductory call following that first look at the application.

Unknown Speaker

And the important bit in that email was that this call is now carried out with all firms. That suggests this isn’t just a one‑off nice‑to‑have, but potentially part of a new or updated FCA policy.

Rachel MacRae

If it does become standard practice, it could genuinely help streamline the process. It gives the case officer a chance to ask questions in real time, clarify what the firm is actually trying to do and what’s behind some of the answers, rather than everything being dragged out over endless email chains.

Unknown Speaker

And, let’s be honest, fewer long email threads where everyone loses track of who’s answered what, is a win for everyone.

Rachel MacRae

Absolutely. But there is a flip side. If these introductory calls are going to be the norm, it does mean senior management have to be fully familiar with the content of the application before they jump on the call. This is not the time for “remind me what we put in section three”. we've seen feedback from the FCA in the past that highlights there disappointment in firms who just aren't familiar with what is in the application, and this is going to shine an even brighter light on an applicants understanding of their firm, their role or the change the business wants to implement.

Unknown Speaker

No, that’s definitely not the vibe you’re going for. The FCA processes are continuing to evolve, as they always do, and the hope is that these changes – more use of tech, more direct conversation – ultimately make the journey smoother and quicker for firms.

Rachel MacRae

We’ll keep watching how it plays out in practice, but for now, if you’re in that applications pipeline, expect a longer wait for allocation, a faster pace once you’ve got your case officer, and a decent chance of a friendly introductory chat along the way.

Unknown Speaker

Let’s move on to something a bit spicier – the never‑ending question of whether compliance is a burden or a benefit.

Rachel MacRae

Or, in this case, whether it’s personally responsible for killing the joy of financial planning.

Unknown Speaker

Some of you will have seen the recent FT Adviser piece where First Wealth’s chief exec, Anthony Villis, suggested that the joy of financial planning is being “beaten out of firms” by compliance and overly burdensome technology. It’s quite a headline.

Rachel MacRae

It is the kind of line that’s designed to get people talking – and it definitely did that for us. You can almost hear planners everywhere shouting “yes, finally someone said it”, and compliance people quietly grinding their teeth.

Unknown Speaker

We completely understand the pressures firms are under. There is a lot to do, a lot to evidence, and technology doesn’t always feel like it’s helping. But – and this won’t shock you coming from us – we don’t share the view that compliance is the villain of the piece.

Rachel MacRae

No, we really don’t. That article actually prompted quite a bit of debate internally here, and we’re in the middle of drafting a full blog that unpicks it properly – where we agree with the sentiment, where we disagree, and why we think the whole narrative around compliance needs a bit of a reset.

Unknown Speaker

Because at the moment, compliance is very often the convenient punchbag. Something goes wrong, a process feels clunky, or a system is painful to use, and it’s easy to say, “well, that’s compliance for you!”; even when the real issue might be poor implementation or bad tech.

Rachel MacRae

Exactly. And once compliance has been cast as the villain, it’s quite hard to come back from that. So part of what we want to do in the blog is challenge that automatic assumption and reframe the conversation a bit.

Unknown Speaker

But we don’t want that to be a one‑way lecture from us. We’d really like to hear what you think as well. Do you feel compliance genuinely gets in the way of great financial planning? Or is it being unfairly blamed for problems that actually sit elsewhere?

Rachel MacRae

If you’ve got thoughts – and we suspect some of you have quite strong ones – drop us a line at info at b compliant.co.uk. Tell us whether you see compliance as a burden, a benefit, or something in between.

Unknown Speaker

We may reflect some of the themes you raise in the upcoming blog, but everything you send will remain anonymous, so you can be as honest as you like without worrying about being quoted by name.

Rachel MacRae

And if you want to read the FT Adviser piece that kicked all this off, you can find it online as well. Have a look, see what you think, and then tell us whether you’re in the “compliance kills joy” camp or the “stop blaming compliance for everything” camp.

Unknown Speaker

Either way, it’s a conversation we think the profession needs to have properly, not just in angry LinkedIn comments. So watch out for that blog next week.

Rachel MacRae

To finish, we’re going to look a bit more to the future – specifically, the future generation of clients, advisers and, hopefully, compliance fans.

Unknown Speaker

Yes, this week the Personal Finance Society has put out a call for new Education Champions to support its long‑running initiative delivering free financial education workshops in schools across the UK.

Rachel MacRae

The aim of the programme is to help young people build confidence around money, so that when they leave school, they feel more “life‑ready” – not just in theory, but in terms of the day‑to‑day decisions they’ll have to make about spending, saving, borrowing and all the rest of it.

Unknown Speaker

Over the years, it’s had fantastic feedback from both teachers and students, and its impact just keeps on growing. It’s one of those quiet success stories that doesn’t always make the headlines but really matters.

Rachel MacRae

The PFS is now looking for two things. First, individuals who would like to volunteer their time to deliver these sessions in schools. And second, schools that might benefit from hosting a workshop.

Unknown Speaker

So if you’re listening to this and thinking, “actually, I could spare a bit of time to help young people feel more confident about money,” or you know a school that would welcome this support, it’s a great opportunity to get involved.

Rachel MacRae

You can find more information through the usual PFS channels, or you can email volunteers at thepfs.org to express an interest or to flag a school that might like to host a session.

Unknown Speaker

It’s a really nice counterpoint to some of the heavier topics we cover. While we’re talking about FCA processes and compliance debates, there are also people out there helping the next generation build the skills they need so that, hopefully, fewer of them run into serious financial trouble later on.

Rachel MacRae

And who knows, maybe a few of those students will end up in financial planning or compliance roles themselves one day – ideally without believing that compliance is out to beat the joy out of everything.

Unknown Speaker

That would be nice, wouldn’t it?

Rachel MacRae

On that hopeful note, we’ll wrap up there. We’ve covered quite a bit today, and whilst this podcast is a little different from our usual ones, wehope you've enjoyed it - let us know if you would like to hear more episodes like this.

Unknown Speaker

Yes, if any of it has sparked a thought, or you want to share your views, do get in touch.

Rachel MacRae

Thanks for listening to the B-Compliant Podcast. I’m Rachel…

Unknown Speaker

And I’m Vicky. Take care, and we’ll speak to you again soon.