Unearthing mistakes in complaints root cause analysis

Firms have asked the Financial Conduct Authority for more guidance to help them embed the Consumer Duty, so the regulator has published a review of approaches to complaints root cause analysis, with good practice examples and areas for enhancement. But, are there better ways for businesses to improve? Adam Samuel challenges assumptions about this deceptively difficult subject.

Adam Samuel BA LLM DipPFS MCISI FCIArb Certs CII (MP&ER) Barrister and Attorney may be contacted at adamsamuel@aol.com. You can purchase Adam's latest book 'Compliance - a Short Book' at www.amazon.co.uk/Compliance-Short-Book-Adam-Samuel-ebook/dp/B0CTRYBN1J/. For links to where you can buy the second edition of 'Consumer Financial Services Complaints and Compensation', see www.adamsamuel.com/writing.

The FCA's December offering on complaints and root cause analysis [1] raises a common issue for regulators: how do we increase standards at something we do not really understand and where our track record is at least as bad as the industry we regulate? The Authority has a serious credibility gap when it talks about root cause analysis.