2017年-FCA英国金融行为监管局_unfair_terms_legislation_sections_handbook_2页_174kb

报告摘要

Regulator Assessment Summary: Qualifying Regulatory Provisions

Core Content

This document outlines the FCA's assessment of changes to the unfair terms legislation sections of the FCA Handbook, which were implemented as part of the Consumer Rights Act (CRA) 2015. The CRA replaced the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (UTCCRs) and introduced new provisions to govern unfair terms in consumer contracts. The FCA's role in this context is to provide guidance on how to apply the CRA to financial services firms, ensuring compliance with the new legal framework.

Main Points

Title of Proposal: Changes to the unfair terms legislation sections of the FCA Handbook
Lead Regulator: FCA (for the financial services sector)
Date of Assessment: 29 September 2016
Commencement Date: The CRA came into force on 1 October 2015, following the publication of the consultation on 5 June 2015 and the Handbook Notice in September 2015
Origin: Domestic legislation, but it implements the EU Directive on unfair terms in consumer contracts (93/13/EEC)
Scope: Applies to all areas of the UK
Affected Businesses: All financial services firms that deal with retail consumers
Number of Firms: Over 56,000 firms regulated by the FCA, most of which have contractual relationships with retail consumers

Key Changes to the FCA Handbook

The FCA updated the Unfair Contract Terms Regulatory Guide (UNFCOG) to reflect the CRA's implementation. The changes include:

Title Update: The guide was renamed to Unfair Contract Terms and Consumer Notices Regulatory Guide
Legislative References: All references to the UTCCRs were replaced with references to the CRA
Clarification of Scope: The UTCCRs still apply to contracts entered into before 1 October 2015
Expanded Review Authority: The FCA may now review terms whether or not they have been individually negotiated
Consumer Notices Assessment: The FCA can now assess consumer notices for fairness under the CRA

Impact on Business

The FCA assessment indicates that the changes to the Handbook do not impose additional legal obligations on firms beyond those required by the CRA. As a result, there is no additional cost to businesses beyond their existing compliance costs with the CRA.

Cost-Benefit Analysis

One-off Familiarisation Costs: £1.32 million
One-off Costs of Updating Terms and Conditions: £11.25 million
One-off Increase in Legal Advice Costs: £3.46 million
Ongoing Benefits from Cheaper Complaint Handling: £0.32 million
Ongoing Savings from Reduced Legal Disputes: £1.07 million
Annual Savings from Simplifying Terms and Conditions: £0.25 million

These estimates were provided by BEIS in its impact assessment of the Consumer Rights Bill and considered by the Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) in RPC13-BIS-1731.

FCA's View

The FCA conducted a cost-benefit analysis in Consultation Paper 15/9 and concluded that the changes to the CRA sections of the Handbook did not result in any additional costs to firms. Any additional costs, if any, were deemed to be of minimal significance. Therefore, the FCA does not consider there to be a significant impact on business.