The Financial Conduct Authority is not continuing its planned work on the second ‘Assessing Suitability Review’ (ASR2) looking at retirement income advice.
As part of the ASR2, the regulator sent 125 letters to wealth firms to enquire about the financial advice given to retirees between October 2018 and September 2019.
But in April 2020, the FCA placed the review on hold to prioritise its response to the pandemic. On 16 July 2021, the watchdog said it will not go forward with it.
This is to focus on other priorities, such as its work on defined benefit (DB) pension transfers and the issues raised in its consumer investments call for input, such as further protecting investors from financial harm.
The FCA said: “We remain committed to ensuring firms give suitable advice, including retirement income advice, that leads to good consumer outcomes.
“We will continue to monitor the market, and where we identify concerns will consider whether additional work is needed.”
The first review was carried out in 2016 and focused on the suitability and disclosure ruled in the ‘Conduct of Business’ sourcebooks.
