This week’s news… condensed

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

The reluctant Mr Sants

FSA supremo Hector Sants (pictured) hasn't exactly endeared himself to advisers - or indeed anyone else - in recent years, so when he told MPs he never really wanted the chief executive job, you can imagine how some readers reacted.

Fees and levies

The industry's watchmen revealed the fees and levies for the coming financial year: overall costs at the FSA are up, although advisers will pay less, FSCS levy is broadly the same although there could be another dreaded interim levy and the Money Advice Service is doubling its budget.

Pensions Ombudsman

An interesting case from the Pensions Ombudsman, which found in favour of Friends Life after a consumer had complained it misled him about the nature of its treatment of additional voluntary contributions.

Fund charges

A big push for transparency on fund charges, with Fidelity and a new campaign group calling for industry standard total cost figures for consumers. The IMA had a very different view.

FSA v MiFID

It was always going to be a long shot, but the FSA confirmed what we already expected. The MiFID II legislation will not allow restricted advisers to continue taking commission.

Naming and shaming

Advisers and providers may have their doubts, but the Financial Ombudsman Service looks set to go ahead with naming businesses involved when it published its final decisions.

Fun and games with the CII

The CII wants more young people interested in becoming financial advisers and firmly believes a board game could be the solution. It also wants advisers to volunteer in schools and offer more placements.

VAT

Thought you had the whole VAT on advice issue nailed? Think again. HMRC has tweaked its guidance again and the good news is that more advice will become exempt.

Auto-enrolment advice

Pensions minister Steve Webb recently told MPs small employers should not seek ‘expensive' advice for auto-enrolment and his comments certainly provoked plenty of debate.

Facebook

Are we in the middle of another tech bubble. That's the questions many investors and advisers will be asking after Facebook announced details of its IPO, involving some seriously staggering figures.