RISING TO THE OCCASION
A SUMMARY OF CCTA DEVELOPMENT PLANS

CCTA

Hello to all our members and associates. I hope you are enjoying the latest edition of CCTA Magazine. As many of you will know, I am the new Head of Policy and Advice at the CCTA. I had the pleasure of meeting many of our members and associates for the first time during our annual conference in Liverpool in April. The publication of this magazine presents a good opportunity for me to introduce myself and to highlight the services that fall under my remit.

I joined the CCTA in April this year, making a move from Compliance Consultancy where I advised and supported many consumer credit firms in legal and regulatory compliance. As Head of Policy and Advice at the CCTA, I now manage some of the key services we provide to you as a trade association.

From a policy aspect, it is within my remit to monitor key regulatory and legislative developments within the alternative lending sector, ensuring, where appropriate, we represent the position of our sector within consultation and discussion papers. Together with the wider CCTA team, we work proactively to influence policymakers to address the key issues our members face.

Much of this behind-the-scenes work involves regular constructive dialogue with key strategic contacts at the FCA, FOS, HM Treasury and wider industry stakeholders. Such dialogue and engagement at different levels is vital to ensure we retain appropriate insight of both current and emerging regulatory matters. This, in turn allows us to keep our members informed and represent our sector where required.

Within my advice and guidance remit, I also oversee some of the key services our members use. Working with my colleagues, we are further developing our communications services, including our Weekly News emails and quarterly publications, CCTA Inform and CCTA Magazine. This will ensure that members are kept informed of industry and sector-specific developments.

We will soon also be introducing an annual member survey as we are keen to engage with members to develop and improve our services further. We’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions.

We are currently undertaking a review of all our credit agreements and statutory documents that many of our members use, to ensure they continue to remain up to date and relevant. The changes will also improve the usability and readability of our documents.

It would also be a good time to mention that we will be resuming CCTA Workshops, starting with a Consumer Duty Workshop scheduled for Q3. The exact date for this is to be confirmed but it will be closer to the release of the Policy Statement, so keep an eye out for the details.

We also have longer term plans for expanding member benefits such as re- introducing training & CPD and providing Guidance Papers on key regulatory topics. I’d like to point out that I now oversee our Advice Line service too. The service allows our members to seek guidance and support from the CCTA team on all matters , so I encourage members to submit any questions or concerns to us and we will be happy to provide the guidance and support you need.

Collectively, as your CCTA team continues important campaigning and advocacy initiatives on many fronts, we encourage member engagement to achieve results. As many of our members will know, we have been involved in campaigning for a reform of the Consumer Credit Act, to make it less burdensome and complex for both firms and consumers. We were therefore pleased that, on 16th June, the HM Treasury announced that this reform will now go ahead.

Another campaign we are involved in relates to Claims Management Companies (CMCs) behaviours and practices, something which we will be progressing with the CMC Regulatory Team at the FCA during our Virtual Summer Summit on Tuesday 5th July. Registration for the event is now open and places can be booked via the Member Hub.

So, it is a busy but exciting period here at the CCTA and I look forward to working with you all in the future.