FSA wins ‘kick in pants’ award over literature

How would the FSA Report this?

"Potentially Unclear Customer Outcomes"

Posted by: Alistair Cunningham

How would the FSA Report this?

"Potentially Unclear Customer Outcomes"

Posted by: Alistair Cunningham

Incredible

For an organisation set up to protect the consumer is it not time they became "accountable" to someone and not be protected from any wrong doing under FSMA 2000. If they win a "kick in the pants" award for poor literature and they can't even get that right when they cost us all some £400 Million a year and £3.8 Million of that was spent on training their staff it staggers me.

Posted by: Michael Fallas

Who will present the award?

I think there may be a queue of advisers volunteering to administer the prize.

Posted by: Harry Katz

Obfuscation by Complication

In its no doubt well intentioned intent to protect the consumer, the FSA, whilst professing to want clear, jargon-free communication between IFA's and their clients (which I fully agree is an entirely correct and laudable aim), has instead, by default, forced IFA's to overload clients with such a massive deluge of information, that they've lost the will to live by the time they get even a quarter of the way through it – and that takes tenacity in its self. This culture has pervaded all that they do or touch which, as has been indicated, is precisely part of why there is so little interaction stimulated in response to consultation papers; witness the dismissive farce of the recent parliamentary “debate” on RDR. It is also due to IFA’s feeling that such attempts would result in absolutely no influence or scintilla of change, as the FSA are self evidently not interested in anything that IFA’s have to say – unless it’s “Yes, we obey - where can I pay?”. This can be seen quite simply in the fact that whilst IFA’s have tried very plainly in blogs such as this to put their views forward, it has over the years degenerated - out of pure frustration - to ribaldry and sarcasm – and who can honestly blame us. This in turn follows through to IFA's having to produce suitability reports that are crammed with massive amounts of detail (mostly meaningless to the majority of clients), such as detailing lifetime allowance limits when they earn £30K and want to pay £100 a month into their pension, wittering on about primary protection and other legislative outcomes that don't apply to the clients situation, explaining why a premium bond wasn’t selected instead of a Stakeholder or a PP etc., that the message gets lost - hence my title of “Obfuscation by Complication”. All this information – multiple page client agreements, KFD's, multiple illustrations and projections, 30 page Suitability Reports for a simple pension transfer where it is blindingly obvious as to “why”, piles of research data, risk warnings covering every humanly calculable possibility, records of every email and telephone conversation, all geared towards helping the client, right? Err, well, no, actually, it is to cover our posteriors from assault by the powers that be and to hopefully protect us from the open encouragement of unbridled litigation at the drop of a comer. All this has no part to play in protecting the consumer or instilling confidence in the consumer; it is the exact opposite. It leads to boredom, which leads to greater potential for confusion and misunderstanding and frustration - "I didn't understand it" – is the inevitable result ten years time. Yet here we are, based on recent very announcements by the FSA, to get another skip full of the same. It’s insane. No doubt the FSA will point out that they don’t require all this, and it is our doing as IFA’s, or that it’s come about because we’ve been found wanting in the past, yet IFA’s as we know, mainly have not when compared to the large institutions. Yet we have no choice. Ask any compliance director/manager/company across the country. They MUST do this, or be censured at every turn and become uninsurable. So, aside from all the other mountains of data we must store, the reporting, the reporting on the reporting, the TCF and the CPD and the RDR requirements of further qualifications and the changing of our business models entirely to fees, and the need to charge VAT at 20%, the depression (it’s NOT a recession and CERTAINLY not yet a recovery – Jackanory!), and the FSCS Levy increases, and the unlimited liability beyond the grave, and the assumption of being guilty until proven innocent (that I understand IFA’s have to pay for anyway)............ we have all this to contend with. Hey! All you graduates out there! Wanna be an IFA??

Posted by: John Palfrey

!!!!!!

See - I can't help it anymore - verbal porridge!

Posted by: John Palfrey