Conceptualizing the Consumer of Financial Services: a New Approach?

The Financial Services Act 2012 ushered in a new era in the regulation of UK financial services. The institutional structure of financial regulation was over-hauled, and the responsibility for the protecting users (consumers) of financial services was transferred from the Financial Services Authority FSA to a new regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). At the same time, the FCA has also taken over the responsibility for the regulation of consumer credit from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). It is therefore an opportune moment to reflect on how the authors think of the Bconsumer^ of financial services and therefore how best to protect this consumer. The 2012 Act has made Bensuring that the relevant markets function well^ the core objective of the FCA, with Bconsumer protection^ one of three operational objectives (s6(1B)). This Special Issue aims to explore the implications of the Act, and the constitution of the new FCA, for the delivery of consumer protection for users of retail financial services. Key questions include how we conceptualize, and identify, Bvulnerable^ consumers (or vulnerable groups of consumers), how we understand and protect consumers across a Bdifferentiated^ population, and how we conceive of, design, and target financial services regulation to support better outcomes for