FCA Consumer Duty Board Report

Under the FCA’s Consumer Duty, boards are accountable for ensuring that their firm is consistently delivering good outcomes for retail customers.

The FCA expects firms to produce regular board-level reports that give senior leaders clear, actionable insight into how well the Duty is being met across products, services and customers’ journeys.

How to write a Consumer Duty board report

Writing a Consumer Duty board report from scratch can be difficult to get right. Many firms find it difficult to translate detailed operational activity and MI into a board-ready narrative that meets the FCA’s expectations – particularly around identifying outcomes, acting on issues, and embedding cultural change.

FCA expectations of Board oversight

The rules require firms to create a report for the governing body, explaining the results of PRIN 2A.9 monitoring, at least annually, for the governing body to review and approve, confirm that the firm is satisfying its obligations under the Consumer Duty, and agree any required actions when approving the report.

Since the 2023 implementation of the Duty, the FCA have provided further guidance on their expectations in their December 2024 review of Board reports, highlighting that although these reports will necessarily be different for each firm, they should be constructed in a way that will enable board to properly scrutinise and challenge the firm’s compliance with the Duty.

Evidence for board reporting – what the template helps firms to do

This Consumer Duty Board Report Template supports effective board oversight through:

• Organising and presenting relevant MI, outcomes data and insights in line with the four Duty outcomes and cross-cutting rules

• Document how the firm is identifying and responding to poor outcomes, including for vulnerable customers

• Provide clear, board-level commentary and actions, supporting evidence-based decision making

• Meet the FCA’s requirement for annual reviews at board level – and prepare for potential supervisory scrutiny.

It’s designed to be practical and can be amended to suit the individual needs of the firm, helping compliance teams and senior managers to produce meaningful, consistent reports that show how the Consumer Duty is embedded in the business.

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