Qualification time-line 'very unfortunate' – Lakey

Alan Lakey of Highclere Financial Services thinks the FSA’s 30-month qualification deadline adds further pressure to an industry already weighed down by excessive regulation.

In today's CP10/12 competence and ethics paper, the regulator announced plans to impose a 30 month deadline for individuals to complete all modules of qualifications in a toughening up of its training regime.

Whereas some quarters of the industry have welcomed the deadline and the clarity it brings, Lakey - founder of anti-RDR group Adviser Alliance - says it has not been properly thought through.

"Different advisers will have different ways of dealing with this," he says. "Whereas some advisers will have to pass just one module in the time-line, others may need to pass four or five. And it will also depend on the willingness of advisers to learn and acquire knowledge in different areas."

Lakey says the time-line - which ties in with the RDR deadline - is "very unfortunate" but comes as no surprise.

"This has been known to us, but we are being forced to go down a route that does not make sense."

Lakey, who himself has exams to take, is sharply critical of the FSA's approach to qualifications.

"If I have to take exams it will be with the greatest misgivings," he adds. "The qualification issue also hinges on the question of does it make sense to enforce this across the board? This is forcing us all to be the same and became homogeneous."

The senior partner at Highclere thinks the industry now needs a period of stability after years of regulatory upheaval.

"There must be a department in the FSA dedicated to thinking "what can we alter this week"!