Industry news and views from Panacea and our partners.
FSA/FCA_
Scottish Life: A risky business?
The FSA's Retail Conduct Risk Outlook Report 2012 highlights some of the areas they might focus on when visiting or investigating adviser businesses.
Moron Advice Service?
We have become ever more concerned that there is no Cunning Plan at the FSA to educate consumers, and especially consumers who have an IFA relationship.
Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?
A beam of light shone brightly, albeit briefly, into the regulatory darkness when I read that the Prudential had branded the FSA legacy proposals as ludicrous and horrendous for consumers.
ISA & Tax Planning Twitterview
Following on from previously successful Twitterviews on Business Transition and Protection, on the afternoon of 26th March, PanaceaIFA ran a Twitterview covering ISAs and Tax Planning.
Coles to Newcastle?
So we now know, Margaret Cole will be a member of PWC UKs executive board with responsibility for the office of general counsel.
IFA letter of the week, The hippocratic oath for lawyers and the rule of law?
The Hippocratic Oath is an oath historically taken by physicians and other healthcare professionals swearing to practice medicine ethically. It is a shame that there is not a Legal Hippocratic Oath, an oath taken by lawyers and other legal professionals
IFA letter of the week
I bet the FSA has never read it The man of system, on the contrary, is apt to be very wise in his own conceit; and is often so enamoured with the supposed beauty of his own ideal plan of government, that he cannot suffer the smallest deviation from any part of it.
Bode's Sensitivity Integral and the Waterbed effect
The Waterbed effect is a phenomenon that will increasingly cause concern to those who regulate the industry and those it regulates in regard to pricing, consumer detriment and delayed back office system upgrades.
AEGON: Clarity on Trail will help us all plan for the future
Change is never easy and its made even harder when barriers are put in our way.
IFA letter of the week: Adviser Alliance
The lack of a 15 year longstop has caused concern for some considerable time
Compliancy Services eNewsletter
The OFT has launched an extensive review of the payday lending sector. This is in part prompted by concerns that some payday lenders may be taking advantage of people in financial difficulty.
In the spotlight-Majority of firms will reach chartered status
Fay Goddard, Chief Executive of the Personal Finance Society discusses the most important year as we approach the crucial RDR deadline.
Paradox - Common sense in regulation?
Regulation is a paradox in that it means to be absolute, and yet is relative in that it somehow always goes beyond itself and yet never escapes itself.
IFA alert
IFAs beware. It is reassuring to see that the FSA is conducting an RDR readiness survey.
A cunning plan indeed IFA letter of the week
Between 1974 and 1985 I did Financial and Management Accounts work and this took in Salaries and Wages routines and even Auditing tasks.
Sants Survey-PanaceaIFA FSA meeting update
We were pleased to attend a meeting on the 21st February 2012, facilitated by Martin Wheatley, with the FSA RDR communications team.
I saw the light on the night that I passed by her window ..
Many were agog that FSA MD Margaret Cole, once tipped to be The Boss, is leaving after seven years at the regulator.
Compliancy Services: FSA head outlines twin peaks regulatory changes
The chief executive of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has issued an update on the process of the twin peaks regulatory changes, it was announced recently.
FSA RDR guide for firms
This guide is designed to help you implement the requirements of our Retail Distribution Review (RDR) in your firm. It asks some key questions that you can use to check progress, identify any gaps, and prioritise and plan your next steps.
Restricted or Independent the choice is yours
The new rules on adviser services apply to firms advising retail clients in the UK on retail investment products.
Wizard Learning: Audiovisual guide to CPD
As you will be aware it is an FSA requirement that all advisers must first become competent, but then must maintain that competence by way of CPD in order that they can continue to be effective.
Barristers launch service advising on financial services law and regulation
Two barristers have joined forces to offer a special legal advice service to IFAs, individuals and businesses in the financial services industry. Peter Hamilton and Alison Potter, both with Chambers at 4 Pump Court in the Temple, are barristers who have specialised in the law and regulation of financial services.
Twin Peaks
The iconic TV series made over 20 years ago- Twin Peaks, was a part murder mystery, part soap opera spoof, part comedy and part supernatural drama.
RBS and hindsight
George Orwell said in Animal Farm "Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is lord of all the animals. He sets them to work, he gives back to them the bare minimum that will prevent them from starving, and the rest he keeps for himself.
IFA letter of the week: Pessimist or well-informed optimist?
As I am sure many will be aware, our This is what my clients think about the RDR Mr Sants survey is causing some noise out there
Tribunal accepts reference before FSA issues Decision Notice
Following representations made by JUSTICE IN FINANCIAL SERVICES supported by Peter Hamilton of 4 Pump Court (acting under the Direct Access to the Bar scheme) the UPPER TRIBUNAL has provisionally accepted a reference without the FSA formally making a decision.
"Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it"
- William Pitt Not a week seems to go by in recent months without industry calls for responsibility in office for those who regulate
Hi Ho Silver lining
The more fee based work IFAs do in the brave new world, the more you would pay in fees to the regulator. Is this equitable or is it just an easy grab Success tax?
Foot Anstey: When FSA obligations met the employment tribunal
A judgment this week has sent a warning light to firms retaining advisers on a self-employed basis. An Employment Tribunal found that the level of control exercised by a firm over a "self-employed" IFA, largely due to FSA compliance requirements, meant there was a sufficient degree of control to establish an employment relationship.
No blame but pay the claim!
The FSA made a submission to the Joint Committee on the Draft Financial Services bill
Turn on, tune in, drop out.
The latest suggestion from the FSA is that firms should be responsible for losses incurred by clients even if they did not give the advice that resulted in the loss.
Nothing to do with me mate!
I read with an element of dismay yet some lack of surprise that the FSA has decided not to license or pre-approve financial services products due to a lack of resources.
Extended Warranty insurance- the next miss-selling scandal?
Regulation, despite its many failings, exists to protect consumers from the effects of bad advice, miss-selling of unsuitable products and sometimes even miss-buying.
Aegon: Don't put off what you can do today
Ill get straight to the point; we now have only 15 months left until the implementation of RDR, so how far along the transformation route are you?
A cunning plan indeed Baldrick
No doubt the Financial Services industry had to blink several times when it saw the headline Trade body for financial claims firms launches.
Latest news from Events-Hub
On 6 October Events-Hub will be visiting Cheshire's Mere Golf & Country Club with some of our leading sponsor groups.
Dignity in Regulation Policy now needed?
Should whats Good for the Goose as the proverb goes, be Good for the Gander
T.E.F - Taking Expenses Fairly courses to follow for FSA staff?
We learned last week in MM that the FSA has cancelled its programme of TCF regional workshops to concentrate its resources on the move to the new regulatory restructure and the RDR.
LANSONS COMMUNICATIONS Regulatory Forum 14th September 2011
The Independent Commission on Bankings final report is due on 12 September. At our breakfast briefing on 14 September, Alan Brener of Santander will be discussing the future of the retail banking model in the light of the Commissions recommendations.