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The Banking Conduct Regime is one of two major regulations which were brought forth by the Financial Service Authority (FSA) on November 1^st, 2009. It was introduced to replace the Banking Code Standards Board’s industry owned codes – the Banking Code and the Business Banking Code – and their non-lending aspects. The Banking Conduct Regime is now implemented onto the processes of accepting deposits, payment transactions, and certain aspects of payment accounts.

Some of the benefits of the Banking Conduct Regime include:

• Regarding Bank Accounts:
  • Customers will get instant access to their accounts, be they saving accounts or current ones. The Banking Conduct Regime ensures that bank account owners are informed two months prior to any interest changes which can be disadvantageous.
  • Transferring cash electronically will need to be completed by the end of the following business day. However, there are chances this process may be extended to the third working day.
  • If account owners claim that a transaction wasn’t authorized by them, the bank should either prove that they authorized the transaction or had misplaced/leaked out their PIN or password. If that isn’t proved, the bank is responsible for refunding the money instantly.
  • Regarding Money Transfers:
    • Clients’ money will be safe because larger payment service providers will be forced to keep cash separate from their own funds.
    • Smaller companies will have the option of protecting their customers’ money with the Banking Conduct Regime. However, it is always a better idea for these service providers to adopt this regulation as it guarantees them more clients.

By looking at these benefits, it is evident that the new Banking Conduct Regime is all about providing more benefits to customers. To ascertain this, the FSA has announced that it will monitor and forcefully implement Principle 6, which indicates that a firm should pay more attention to the interest of its clientele and make sure to treat them fairly.

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