Financial advisers studying for exams have been given some breathing space after the the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rolled out a series of measures for firms impacted by covid-19.
Usually, employees or individuals have up to 48 months to complete qualifications but this could become challenging given the current environment.
For example, the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) was forced to reschedule and postpone most exams due to government guidance and safety measures.
Most of them will take place in July 2020, with the CII increasing its capacity to allow a greater numbers of people to sit their exams.
As a result, the FCA is allowing advisers an extra 12 months to complete their qualifications, while reassuring firms and individuals that it will not take action against those who cannot comply with the 48-month deadline.
Customer support first, exams second
But there needs to be a specific reason for such an extension, the watchdog warned.
“We will treat the time limit for attaining the appropriate qualification as ‘within 48 months or, where necessary, as soon as reasonably practicable afterwards, up to a further 12 months’ instead of ‘within 48 months’,” the FCA said.
“Affected employees of the firm will, if needed, have an additional 12 months to complete the appropriate qualifications. Firms will need to assess and decide if an extension should be granted to an employee and record the reasons for this.
“A firm’s affected employees include those employees that have a set examination date(s) which was cancelled or postponed by the examination provider or by the firm.
“For example, because the employee is needed to carry out extra duties to manage risks, and/or to provide support, to consumers and businesses during these challenging times, and where it is not realistic to expect the employee also to fulfil the qualification requirement.
“We will adopt this approach for six months, until 31 October 2020. This means that firms may apply a time limit of up to 60 months where examinations were cancelled or postponed, up to and including 31 October 2020,” the FCA added.
