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FCA regulation and CIFAS markers
Most CIFAS member organisations are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. FCA rules require firms to treat customers fairly, handle complaints properly, and act proportionately. While the FCA does not resolve individual complaints, its rules provide important arguments for your complaint.
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Relevant FCA principles
- Principle 6, Treating Customers Fairly: firms must pay due regard to the interests of customers and treat them fairly
- Principle 3, Management and control: firms must take reasonable care to organise and control their affairs responsibly
- DISP rules, Dispute Resolution: firms must have a complaints procedure and respond within 8 weeks
- Vulnerability guidance, firms must consider vulnerability factors when making decisions that affect customers
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How FCA rules support your complaint
FCA rules support proportionality arguments. Even where some wrongdoing occurred, the FCA requires that the response is proportionate to the circumstances. A CIFAS marker that prevents all access to financial services may be disproportionate if the underlying conduct was minor or if there are mitigating circumstances.
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Consumer Duty and CIFAS markers
The FCA Consumer Duty (PS22/9) came into force in July 2023 and requires regulated firms to deliver good outcomes for retail consumers. Filing a CIFAS marker without adequate grounds, or failing to review a marker when challenged, may be inconsistent with a firm's Consumer Duty obligations.
The Consumer Duty requires firms to consider the real world impact of their decisions on consumers. A marker that prevents all access to banking, credit, and insurance for six years is precisely the kind of outcome the Duty is designed to prevent where the firm's evidence does not support it. Citing Consumer Duty obligations in your complaint alongside CIFAS Principles and UK GDPR arguments adds regulatory weight to the challenge.