FCA Dear CEO letter – asset management supervision strategy

FCA Dear CEO letter: asset management supervision strategy

Background

• Dear CEO letter: asset management supervision strategy; published by the FCA on 20 January 2020
• The letter is signed by Marc Teasdale, Director of Wholesale Supervision Supervision – Investment, Wholesale & Specialists Division
• This letter is relevant to all firms impacted by asset management supervision.
• This letter outlines the FCA’s view of the key risks of harm that Asset Managers pose to their customers or the markets in which they operate. CEOs are asked to consider whether their firm presents these risks and whether it has strategies for mitigating them.

Impacts

The asset management sector plays a critical role in the UK economy and in overseeing the savings and investments of millions of individuals across the UK and beyond. The sector is growing and changing in significant ways, but its purpose remains unchanged: to protect and grow the capital of its customers and to oversee their investments effectively over the long term.

The FCA expects all firms to act in the best interests of your customers.   The FCA believes that progress is needed for the sector to deliver this purpose effectively. The letter states that the FCA’s supervision strategy addresses these key issues, which inform the FCA’s priorities set out in the letter.

This Dear CEO letter contains many supervisory priorities:

• Liquidity management
• Firms’ governance
• Asset Management Market Study (AMMS) remedies
• Product governance
• LIBOR transition
• Operational resilience
• EU withdrawal

Timeline with relevant dates to be logged on regulatory calendar

• FCA Dear CEO letter published on 20 January 2020

Next steps

For any queries or to discuss further, the FCA asks CEOs to contact its dedicated Supervision Hub on 0300 500 0597. This is the primary contact for a firm’s day-to-day interactions with the FCA.