Industry news and views from Panacea and our partners.
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Meeting with Mark Garnier MP
Mark Garnier was elected to Parliament in May 2010 and his experience before politics was in finance and business. Mark left the investment banking world in 1999, setting up his own small businesses in investment management, in which he still has an interest. So, IFAs can be sure that this is someone who understands the financial services marketplace and how small firms are impacted by regulation.
It takes two to tango
I am sure that Ms Ceeney is a very decent person but she is being somewhat disingenuous when she states " The value of FOS was to make us easier to deal with than the court". This may be the consumer view but there are two to tango here and the role of the FOS is not to be just a consumer champion.
PanaceaIFA member Neil Liversidge Seeking Election to AIFA Council
IFA blog - The AIFA Council Elections I have decided to offer myself for election to the AIFA Council in the Local Constituency for firms with 1 to 10 approved persons. If you are an individual member of AIFA in the Local Constituency and you would like to propose or second me I would appreciate hearing from you.
The IFA is a "doomed species"
The IFA is a doomed species which will suffer at the hands of an increase in demand for free, electronically delivered advice, according to Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Lord Newby as reported in Money Marketing last week.
Mortgage Market-infarction, life support required now
Gross mortgage lending has plunged 14% in August to an estimated £11.4bn, the Council of Mortgage Lenders reveals. The figure is the lowest August lending since 2000 and drops from £13.3bn in July with a 6% fall from £12.1bn in August 2009.
"We are not like a court" - FOS
For some time IFAs have felt that the FOS has lost it's direction and acting more as a Consumer champion, no longer investigating complaints from a position of neutrality, in a fair and reasonable way based upon the complaint at hand, the evidence available and/or the balance of probability.
FSA lays bare platform failings - what you need to know to pass muster.
The FSA have recently fined the advisory firm Money Wise IFA Ltd just under £20,000 for failings linked to FSA principles 3 and 7 - management controls and communicating with clients respectively. This action resulted from the wider review of investment advice and platforms conducted earlier in 2010.
CPMA 22 September 2010 consultation deadline approaches!
This seems to be something that could easily be missed and it is not receiving a lot of press- at the moment. HMT have published a consultation "A new approach to financial regulation: judgement, focus and stability" which sets out the Government's plans to reform the UK's financial regulatory framework, following on from the Chancellor's Mansion House speech.
People in glass houses... remember Knight Williams?
People in glass houses... remember Knight Williams? They closed in 1995 after a sustained media campaign. Whilst purporting to be independent they only ever recommended their own in-house funds.
IFA letter of the week
I have sent this to the current (Labour) MP & the Conservative PPC for the area. I just think it is the end for loads of small people like me I guess I should be ashamed of my income, but I am trying to do it the new way and charge fees but my clients are ordinary people
"The FSA speak with forked tongue"?
The FSA speak with forked tongue! In CP09/18 - The Retail Distribution Review (RDR) paper the FSA encouraged advisers to make better use of structured products in their advice to consumers!
What is Hector Sants' legacy?
What is Hector Sants' legacy? Being charitable I could say that he was so preoccupied with the banking crisis that he ignored the ministrations of the IFA sector when they shouted that they were being treated unfairly in comparison to the banks and that the RDR was a disaster looming ever closer on the horizon.
Huge FSCS supplementary call on IFA practices
Huge FSCS supplementary call on IFA practices Dear Mr Darling, Lord Myners and Mr Byrne, I write to you as those ultimately responsible for the Financial Regulatory structure of the FSA and FSCS. I had wished to include Gordon Brown but it is noted that the ability to email him has been withdrawn (something to do with a security issue?).
Huge FSCS supplementary call on IFA practices
Huge FSCS supplementary call on IFA practices Dear Mr Darling, Lord Myners and Mr Byrne, I write to you as those ultimately responsible for the Financial Regulatory structure of the FSA and FSCS. I had wished to include Gordon Brown but it is noted that the ability to email him has been withdrawn (something to do with a security issue?).
"Let them eat cake"
Let them eat cake. Production without sales (profit) equals scrap! The only groups that fail to understand this are those removed from the reality of profit and the need to make a return on outlay i.e. government departments, local authorities and regulators!
More "True Lies"???
"When he said I do, he never said what he did". More "True Lies"??? For the last six months I have been involved in a dreary correspondence with Paul, Lord Myners, via my own MP, regarding Myners June 2009 submission to the Joint Committee on Human Rights regarding the surreptitious removal of the 15-year longstop defence.
Update - Good news
Update - good news Andrew Tyrie MP has been appointed Chair of the Treasury Select Committee. The FSA fits the BIG STATE small citizen problem outlined by David Cameron and now the FSA is on the back foot and answerable to its critics!
"National Complaints Day" - sponsored by the FSA and FOS???
An occasional look at the FOS website can offer revealing and sometimes disturbing insights into how that particular organisation operates. "National Complaints Day" is one such example.
Take 2 beers and jump?
Does anyone remember "Your Life in Their Hands"? It was a long-running BBC sixties TV documentary series on the subject of surgery examining surgical practice from the point of view of both surgeons and patients. There was an early 1970s revival (the first in colour) presented by Jonathan Miller.
Is Commission an "RDR" dirty word?
"The FSA pays "commission" to its staff, except it refers to it as a "bonus" although how it measures who gets what and why is another matter".
Is retirement about to become more flexible?
Many of you will have seen the HM Treasury announcement on 15 July confirming a short consultation period on the newly proposed legislation to remove the requirement to annuitise by age 75. This is something the industry has generally campaigned for, and the new proposals do appear to bring a strong degree of flexibility.
MoD must stop living beyond its means
The BBC has reported that the NAO, the independent body that monitors government spending, said the MoD had a tendency to revise up each annual budget as the year progressed.
Is this any way to run a ballroom?
Despite Hector Sants stating at the FSA AGM in June that the £430m RDR would go ahead, the FSA considered scrapping the retail distribution review at a board meeting in March but decided to push on with plans for fear of "losing face". That is according to Lansons director of regulatory consulting Richard Hobbs in a report by Natalie Holt in last weeks MM.
Moneyinfo gives advisory firms the online advantage for the first time
PanaceaIFA is pleased to tell you about Moneyinfo, a totally new kind of online client service. It's portfolio plus bank accounts and credit card reporting all rolled into one. It's the first service that provides your clients the ability to view their 'whole financial life' in one place. And they can only get it from you, their adviser.
Passion for fairness??
The Sunday Times this weekend carried an advertisment for FOS Ombudsman position/s at a salary of £64,000 plus benefits. The organisation describes itself as a Statutory not for profit organisation with a commercial focus, professional rigour and a "passion for fairness".
USA today, UK tomorrow?
Social media, the next big wave for financial advisors? In light of the recent FSA Industry Update number 5 on Social Media and financial promotion rules, the take on social media from across the 'pond' is somewhat different.
Big brother is watching you
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, iPhone apps, forums, blogs - what do they have in common? Simple really and of course "soooo" obvious. The FSA has issued an Industry Update no 5, June 2010 warning that firms must comply with financial promotion rules when using new media such as Twitter, Facebook, online forums, blogs and I Phone applications.
"Your turn No. 5 get ready to listen"- Derek Bradley, PanaceaIFA.com
Even before the lights dim out at the FSA offices in London's Canary Wharf, another new regulatory body is now in incubation. Last Wednesday night at the Mansion House, the Chancellor George Osborne, announced the establishment of a powerful new Consumer Protection and Markets Authority (CPMA), which will regulate the conduct of every authorised financial firm providing services to consumers.
Come in number 4, your time is up!!
News hitting the wires is indicating that the FSA is to fall under the control of the Bank of England with a separate Consumer Protection Agency set up to regulate IFAs. Chancellor George Osborne is set to reveal the restructure in his first Mansion House speech tomorrow, the Chancellor is also set to announce the separation of the FSAs consumer protection activities into a new body called the Consumer Protection Agency, as proposed by the Conservative Party before the election.
PanaceaIFA LinkedIn group
"What do you think should be George Osborne's priorities in his emergency Budget on 22nd June and how will these affect your IFA firm"? PanaceaIFA now has a discussion group on LinkedIn. Although this group has been live a very short time, it is attracting some interesting comment on issues that impact upon IFAs.
IFA letter of the week
It was Caesar who ordered that the boats his army used to travel be burnt, so that when the army woke up in the morning they knew that they either had to win the war or would die.
Try saying "wibble"
AVIVA final salary scheme to close, FSA 2010 budget to pay £14 million into its final salary pension scheme, AIFA urges advisers to challenge FSA fees. Three very important pieces of April news have come up on the PanaceaIFA radar that I am sure will raise many questions.
Have you seen the RDR Cost Benefit Analysis reports?
It would appear that many IFAs have not actually had sight of the CBA - Cost Benefit Analysis report prepared for the FSA in regard to the RDR. In light of this, you may wish to study this in detail and consider whether the numbers look relevant to you.
Does The Regulators' Compliance Code apply to the FSA?
The Regulators' Compliance Code is a central part of the Government's better regulation agenda. Its aim is to embed a risk-based, proportionate and targeted approach to regulatory inspection and enforcement among the regulators it applies to.
Trouble in Shangri-la
Shangri-la has become synonymous with any earthly paradise but particularly it is known as a mythical Himalayan utopia - a permanently happy land, isolated from the outside world. In the novel Lost Horizon, the people who live at Shangri-La are almost immortal, living years beyond the normal lifespan and only very slowly ageing in appearance.
Bad apple?
I was quite amazed to read in Money Marketing that a Lancashire based financial adviser has been jailed for five years after being convicted of defrauding clients out of more than £600,000. It is reported that John Williams, 71, who had run Acorn Marketing Services in St Annes, was convicted of a series of fraud offences when he appeared before Preston Crown Court. He had denied the charges.
Meeting with Michael Fallon
Alan Lakey and I had a meeting on Friday in Sevenoaks with Michael Fallon MP. This was very kindly facilitated by Sevenoaks IFA Mark Watson who also attended. The purpose of the meeting was to continue with the long-stop lobby of MP's. The suggestion by John Bercow MP, the Commons Speaker following our January meeting was that we should meet with Michael Fallon due to his highly important and influential position as Deputy Chair of the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee.
Stable door!!
The FSA has at long last announced plans to vet financial products at the design stage to provide greater consumer protection. PanaceaIFA together with many, many others has advocated for a very long time that this is the approach needed, so with an election looming, Hector Sants leaving and a change of government looking possible, resulting in a new regulator for IFAs and the banks, we would ask the question "why now"?
A new FSA framework for penalties under which fines could treble in size
Leah Milner of Money Marketing has reported that the FSA penalty framework links fines more closely to income and will take effect from March 6.
Things to do in Davos
Apart from the possibility of finding that a night or two full board with lift pass, ski hire, flights and transfers to Davos may not be covered in full by the expenses allowance, FSA chairman Adair Turner has called for the creation of a new official body with powers to force banks to curb lending during financial bubbles reports Nicole Blackmore in last weeks Money Marketing.