The Top Class Wednesday Update is 200, sort of

Well now, it seems like forever since I’ve had my hands dirty with the Update, ably assisted as I am by Rich, Old Tom (as opposed to Young Tom) and diverse others these days. In fact it’s only been three weeks, but as we all know a lot can happen in such a short time […]
The Top Class Wednesday Update is going against Mum’s advice

Hi gang, Rich Mayor here to talk about the third quarter a bit. We’re tantalisingly close to being able to talk about everything about platforms’ numbers last quarter, but we’re still embargoed until Thursday when it will be unleashed upon an unsuspecting public (that’ll be you). But while we can’t say everything we can say […]
I’m a Top Class Wednesday Update get me out of here

Mr Polson is away this week, having indulged his guitar-playing Mr Hyde persona and most excellently tearing up the PFS Conference. For anyone who got too close, counselling is available. I’ll come to the pensions in a minute. But in the week we celebrate both the dark and the supernatural (and for some reason, pumpkins), […]
The Top Class Wednesday Update is glad everything’s completely normal

Day five million in the Big Brother house, and the contestants have started to eat each other. “This is normal,” says Suella, gnawing on a thigh bone. “I’m struck by how well everything is working,” says Dominic, popping a juicy eyeball into his dry, blackened mouth. I’ve been looking for a long time for a […]
The Top Class Wednesday Update remembers Ian Taylor

Hi everyone, Mark here. Rich will be Updating you – albeit in a truncated form – in a moment, but first I think we need to take a moment to mark the end of an era with the desperately sad news of the passing of Ian Taylor, ex-CEO and co-founder of Transact, at only 58 […]
Consumer Duty: 11 questions your implementation plan should try to answer

Come 1 November there will be two kinds of firms – those who have their Consumer Duty plans in place, and those who didn’t quite hit the deadline. The FCA expects firms’ management teams (essentially, this is where the buck stops – for larger firms it will be the board) to have agreed their implementation […]
The Top Class Wednesday Update will look after you

Hello hello, me again after a week’s break from Updating at a keyboard in favour of Updating anyone who cared to drop by at HomeGame 2 last week. Thanks to everyone who came along – just under 170 in the room and nearly 300 online – and I hope you had a nice time. I […]
The Top Class Wednesday Update gets it and is listening

Good afternoon, Mike here. Right about now (assuming you are reading this on Wednesday lunchtime/afternoon) we will be smack in the middle of our second #langcatlive for 2022, the HomeGame in Edinburgh. If you’ve missed out you can catch up via the socials and we’ll also post the highlights on YouTube in the days to […]
The FCA motivation behind Consumer Duty

The initiative formerly known as the New Consumer Duty, and now generally referred to as the Consumer Duty, was launched by the FCA with something of a fanfare in July. You might be putting the finishing touches on your firm’s implementation plan, or you might be about to fire up the coffee machine and roll […]
Consumer Duty: Where TCF failed to tread?

When the FCA’s Consumer Duty finally takes effect next year, it will be the culmination of a longer journey than many might realise. Because while the regulator first sought views on ‘a duty of care and potential alternative approaches’ in 2018, calls for some form of duty of care in financial services had been growing […]