The Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) has developed an online e-learning course to ensure that every financial services professional deepens their understanding of vulnerable clients.
This comes after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) consultation paper on prioritising the needs of vulnerable customers.
The e-learning assessment will help identify vulnerable customers and explain the necessary practices and guidance which are necessary for finance professionals to demonstrate their duty of care.
The module is recognised evidence of active learning and examines the way customer-facing staff, as well as those who are in regular contact with customers, identify and deal with vulnerable customers.
It consists of a 120-minute series of modules, followed by a 30-question multiple choice test with a 73% pass mark. This course is available to both members and non-members.
‘Appropriate treatment’
Simon Culhane, CISI chief executive, said: “Our new online course has been developed to support our profession and to help practitioners understand the entire range of social demographics which encompass this important vulnerable customer category, with challenges on how to assess and cope with the risks involved.”
The CISI added: “The appropriate treatment of vulnerable customers is a key concern for regulators all over the world, in the financial services sector and beyond.
“Keeping these customers safe is both a regulatory requirement and a moral imperative, so firms must be proactive in identifying them and providing the best possible service.”
