My Lords, like other noble Lords who have spoken, I speak in support of my noble friend’s amendment. As ever, my noble friend has been very concise and focused on this key issue about how we can get the FCA in these arrangements to be seen to act in the interest of consumers and financial inclusion. There is a tension between the FCA as a regulator of the market and what we seek through this Bill—an improvement in financial capability and for guidance to be given to people so that they can make better-informed financial judgments.
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My noble friend at an earlier point quoted the FCA’s evidence to the Select Committee. It said that when considering what degree of protection for consumers may be appropriate, the FCA must have regard to, among other things,
“differing degrees of experience and expertise of different consumers”.
That is all very good. It is also required to have regard to the,
“general principle that consumers should take responsibility for their decisions”,
and can recognise that,
“consumers can only do this if they have access to appropriate financial services that meet their changing needs”.
Clearly, there is a market focus, but there are also opportunities to go more widely under the responsibility to deal with the protection of consumers. That is exactly what my noble friend’s amendment does. That potential tension needs to be sorted, rationalised and clarified in the Bill so that we are clear that the FCA has to act in these circumstances in the interests of consumers.