The FCA has published a consultation paper (CP22/26) including proposed changes to the consumer duty rules by clarifying their application to authorised firms creating a product or operating pension schemes for occupational pension scheme trustees.
  
The FCA's policy is that such authorised firms would need to comply with the new consumer duty if they can determine or materially influence retail customer outcomes. The current definition of "retail customer" for these purposes includes "any person who is not a client of the firm but who is or would be a beneficiary in relation to investments held in that occupational pension scheme". The FCA recognises that the way in which this applies to DB schemes could be open to misinterpretation since scheme members do not have a direct entitlement to the scheme's investments.
  
The FCA therefore proposes to amend the definition to remove the reference to investments held in the scheme. Whilst in practice, the FCA does not expect there to be many instances where authorised firms have a material influence on retail customer outcomes in relation to DB schemes, it does not think it is appropriate to rule out the application of the duty by virtue of a blanket exclusion.