This week’s news… condensed

The pick of this week's articles on IFAonline...

Legacy commission

The FSA may well ban trail commission on fund switches, but some advisers warned this could go against the spirit of treating customers fairly.

St James's Place

It may not be everyone's idea of the perfect advisory business, but St James's Place continues to be a success story. Its sales were up 10% and it claims most of its partners are RDR ready.

Contracting out

The government will outlaw contracting out of the state pension into private vehicles in April and, according to one expert, it could cost financial advisers £80m in lost commission on those contributions.

Miliband v pension providers

Labour leader Ed Miliband launched a campaign to protect consumers from "predatory" practices by pension providers and banks. Readers were not impressed.

Comparing commission

Advisers are generally keen to see anything which makes investing more transparent to consumers, but is a tool showing the amount of commission a ‘typical adviser' earns fair?

Which? doubts

Advisers questioned the consumer champion credentials of Which? after it ‘exposed' the vastly different fees apparently being charged by IFAs for the same services.

Arch Cru

Some key developments on the Arch Cru front with Arch Financial Products being sued for £150m and David Cameron rejecting calls for an independent inquiry into the saga.

Money Advice Service

Happy days at the Money Advice Service, where senior management shared £101,000 in bonuses in 2010/11.

Ratings agencies

Are some people too quick to react to downgrades by ratings agencies? Yes, according to the country's most important banker, Mervyn King (pictured).

PPI

The fallout from the mis-selling of PPI rumbles on, with the Financial Ombudsman Service deluged with even more cases.