Where am I? 
Home Better Business
Regulatory Legal says adviser inertia threatens to derail its campaign to mount a judicial review into the FSCS's decision to increase levies to meet the £70m costs of failed Keydata.
The law firm is pursuing a judicial review against the FSCS's decision to levy the investment intermediation sub-class to meet the costs of the collapse of Keydata and two stockbrokers.
Following a letter Regulatory Legal sent to the FSCS on February 18 asking for a breakdown of the decision-making process, partner Gareth Fatchett says he is expecting to hear from the compensation body next week.
He says: "I imagine we will start protocol actions that same week or the week after and proceed with the judicial review by mid-late March."
But although Fatchett says the campaign - which is dependent on IFA funding - is gathering momentum with 400 IFAs saying they will join up, he also says adviser apathy is proving a major obstacle.
"The main problem we are experiencing is the divided nature of the IFA community," he says. "Our concern is IFAs will defeat themselves with too much talking and not enough doing. IFAs think the FSCS will just roll over. The IFA community can be very bad at organising and representing itself."
He adds the firm has encountered problems with adviser representative groups which have "not been very helpful" by suggesting the legal community is merely out to profit from the fallout following the FSCS levy.
Regulatory Legal is challenging the FSCS's levy on three grounds: a lack of consultation, incorrect allocation of sub-class and the 30-day deadline advisers have been given, from the end of March, to find their share of the levy.
| Share | |
| Comment | Adviser apathy could scupper Keydata FSCS challenge |
More better business news
Email alerts
Recommended reading
Categories
Topics
Comments
stand up and be counted
Get behind this, it may be our only chance to have a fair hearing. what do we have to lose? Gareth has already said he will refund the money if he does not have a case.Not all lawyers are only interested in money. How often have we been accused of the same thing, knowing it is simply not true? stop dithering. Stand up to them for goodness sake.You will have no right to moan if this unfair levy goes ahead, which it undoubtedly will if we sit back and do nothing. Whilst I admire Chris Cummings & AIFA, I do not think we should expect to sit back whilst he does all the work. We need to unite on this one.
Posted by: rooting for Gareth
IFA's concerns
As an IFA I can assure you I am not apathetic but we have two concerns. One is a dislike or "Raising one's head above the parapet" Annonimity is desireable quality. The other is a fear or regulator's disapproval if one tries to rock the boat for example objecting to the levy and refusing to pay. However on this occasion, when the levy arrives I will respectfully reply that I do not agree that the levy has been correctly applied and consequently will refuse to pay until the basis for paying for a product provider's mistakes being levied upon intermediaries is resolved. I urge others to do the same. A groundswell of combined action will be a powerful force. The reason Britain has been emboiled in so many conflicts over the years is the fine British trait to fight against injustice, ie the old adage "it's the principle of the thing" applies. Meek and mild as I normally am, it is a stand up and be counted moment.
Posted by: Colin Stratton
Why I didnt sign up
Having been keen originally, the reason we wont sign up is that the structure of their approach merely incentivises them to spend as little time on the matter as possible. I contacted Gareth to find out how they intend to "charge" their time, only to discover that the fee paid will be retained come what may, once theyve started. This means if e.g. 500 firms sign up, they will have over £100,000 of which they will return nothing. Where then is the incentive for them to fight the case to the death? The less time they spend on it once its started, the more profit they make. Doesnt strike me as a shared objective with the IFAs who pay towards this therefore.
Posted by: Paul Harding
Fatchett's record
Before all you IFAs who start coughing up cash because you may feel you back is to the wall, you need to do a little research about this man. Yes he may be right IFAs being divisive, but that is the only thing which I would agree with. Where has he been all this time? If you take the time you'll find out that he has not succeeded in anyone case for IFAs against the regulator. As all lawyers he will take your money but unlikely to beat the opposition. There is no simple answer apart from we need a friendly ear from a Conservative MP. Unfortunately Hoban still has the job of sorting out the FSA. What IFAs need is for him to be sacked and replaced with a more intelligent and sympathetic MP towards IFAs who will be able to make the difference.
Posted by: Experienced IFA with Fatchett experience
Related articles
Most Read
Audio / Visual
With the industry's biggest fund managers, IFAonline welcomes you to the media centre.
This year we have 14 awards designed to mark out the very best products in a highly competitive and innovative market. This includes three new awards for 2011 to reflect the developments in this rapidly growing market: Best Dual/Multi-Index Product, Best Structured (Oeic) Fund and Best Structured Product Provider.
Events
Poll
|
|
Job search
Ifaonlinejobs will open the right investment career path for you. Search hundreds of vacancies on www.ifaonlinejobs.co.uk now
In Focus
Viewpoints
About 2.66 million people are looking to increase the amount of money...
sponsored by
A law unto themselves?
Another load of nonsense. I can assure this Legal Firm (who by their own admission have been getting some pretty rude e-mails) that IFAs are not apathetic in the slightest. AIFA has been making representations on our behalf and not withstanding this firm's dismissive attitude of AIFA, they are in general held in a lot higher regard than he imagines. Indeed he would be a happy man if his firm were held in half as high esteem. What is hard to accept is that any legal practice is prepared to do anything out of the goodness of their heart. Just as IFAs have to bear the burden of ‘Commission hungry salesmen’ so lawyers have to bear the common brickbats with which they are only too familiar. Q. How do you tell if a lawyer has been in a road accident? A. Complete absence of skid marks on the road. So come on lighten up and if you really want to help – get in touch with Chris Cummings.
Posted by: Harry Katz