The Financial Conduct Authority's much-trumpeted Consumer Duty comes into effect on July 31. An amendment to the Financial Services Act in 2021 in the House of Lords gave the regulator a year to bring in rules concerning the level of care firms provide to consumers. This turned into the Consumer Duty and last July the FCA set out its rules. The FCA has issued an unprecedented set of guidance on the duty. In this episode of Compliance Clarified, managing editor Alex Robson talks to senior editor Lindsey Rogerson and Mike Cowan, senior regulatory intelligence expert, about what the duty is, what it means for firms and whether the industry is ready and what is next. The critical question is whether the lives of consumers will be improved and how quickly will the regulator move to enforcement where it finds failings. The Compliance Clarified podcast series covers a wide range of topics which affect compliance officers at financial institutions and aims to help them navigate the often-challenging regulatory environment. It considers the big challenges of the day and offers practical ideas for emerging best practices. Programme notes From behind Regulatory Intelligence paywall: Open banking tech helping financial firms with Consumer Duty compliance -vendors: http://go-ri.tr.com/g6jPrP Decades' high interest rates, Consumer Duty put focus on vulnerability assessments: http://go-ri.tr.com/g1vU0D FCA publishes 10 key questions for firms to test Consumer Duty readiness: http://go-ri.tr.com/k3RqIi No paywall One month to go for the Consumer Duty: https://www.fca.org.uk/news/news-stories/one-month-go-consumer-duty Compliance Clarified is a podcast from Thomson Reuters Regulatory Intelligence. Listen to wide-ranging, insightful discussions on all things compliance for financial services firms. We delve into the hot topics of the day, the challenges faced and offer up practical ideas for emerging good practice. We de-mystify regulation and explore the art, as well as the science, of the ever-expanding role of the compliance officer.  Enforcements, digital transformation, regulatory change, governance, culture, conduct risk – anything and everything impacting the compliance function is up for discussion.