The Financial Conduct Authority has defended its coronavirus financial resilience survey to advisers despite a backlash from the sector.
The FCA recently alerted advisers that it was issuing its Covid impact assessment survey this month and regulated firms must submit their response within 20 working days.
According to the regulator, the survey provides “real-time effect” the Covid pandemic is having on the finances of the 23,000 regulated firms.
An FCA spokesperson told Mortgage Strategy sister title Money Marketing: “The data is important and is helping us to understand the impact Covid-19 is having on the firms we regulate allowing us to identify emerging risks of harm to consumers, the market and competition, and prioritise our supervisory interventions.”
The regulator clarified that even though the survey is mandatory only some of the questions require completion and firms are asked to fill it in on a best-efforts basis.
Some of the survey questions include the impact of Covid on firms, income, net profit or loss, government loans and employees.
The FCA launched the first phase of its Covid impact assessment survey at the height of the pandemic in June and August 2020.
It was sent to the 23,000 firms in two stages. The first group of 13,000 firms received the survey between 4 and 8 June and the second group of 10,000 firms received it between 5 and 10 August.
It maintained that the survey will be repeated regularly to assess the impact of the pandemic on the financial services sector on a long-term basis.
Advisers are up in arms over the survey claiming that it is “timewasting exercise” as they are already mandated to submit their RegData reports outlining firms’ financial status twice a year.
Red Circle Financial Planning director Darren Cooke took to Twitter to express his frustration.
He wrote: “Dear FCA, the only negative impact Covid has had on my business, and every other advice firm I know for that matter, was all the time wasted on filling in your Covid-impact surveys.”
The tweet drew responses from other advisers. One wrote: “It’s not like we already have to complete a 6 monthly RegData return.”
Another said: “Yes, spot on! Please make them stop. Please.”
Yet another said: “It only takes a few minutes to fill in, although I do wonder what value the data has. I guess the FCA were concerned about firms going under but could/would they have taken any action to assist firms identified as being in difficulty? Or do they just record the data?”
