One of the FSA's statutory roles is the protection of consumers and to this end it established a Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) Project. Building societies, like other financial institutions, must pay due regard to the interests of their customers and treat them fairly.

The FSA sees TCF as more than a compliance matter, but something central to a firm’s way of doing business. Treating customers fairly is inherent to the culture of building societies as mutual organisations.

The FSA considers detailed rules unsuitable for the delivery of TCF. Prescriptive rules would not provide the flexibility that firms need to deliver fair treatment suited to the individual consumer. The BSA welcomed this approach, especially in view of the prescriptive provisions already in existence or in the pipeline, such as the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, the unfair relationship test in the consumer credit bill and the Banking Code.

The BSA has engaged with the FSA's work on its TCF project since 2000, submitting detailed responses to FSA Papers and meeting FSA representatives. The BSA has been a very active member of the FSA’s TCF Consultation Group. The BSA has established its own working group and has issued guidance on TCF to building societies.

This guidance formed part of a larger TCF manual that sets out processes the firms might consider using or adapting when examining TCF within their own organisations. This guidance continues to evolve as new issues relating to TCF arise.

To access the FSA's TCF website follow the link below -