Addressing financial advisers and mortgage intermediaries at the AIFA & AMI Regional Conference in Belfast, Briault spelled out the FSA's primary objectives for the retail distribution system, which centre on the quality of advice available to consumers and the fair treatment of consumers by firms.
He said as part of its next stage of work on Treating Customers Fairly it will be looking at quality of advice. The aim will be to consider how the regulator can measure and improve the overall quality of advice that consumers receive, rather than looking at specific products or examples where the advice process goes wrong.
It will test current practices, looking at a range of areas including training and competency, the systems and controls that support good advice, and entry standards for advisers and firms. It will also identify examples of good or bad practice, and share this with the industry.
Briault said: "I am pleased to have been given the opportunity to address firms in Northern Ireland directly – something we at the FSA are keen to do more often. The retail financial services market is not yet operating in a consistently effective and efficient way. On the mortgages side, our early findings report a mixed picture in terms of standards. On the investments side, the market is in a state of flux with both product providers and distributors facing a range of challenges which include adapting business strategies to reflect a depolarised world and a lack of consumer confidence.
"To tackle this we strongly believe that good quality financial advice plays an important role in ensuring that consumers have expert help in making a complex range of choices on important financial decisions. The provision of financial advice is a large industry, and with rising incomes and wealth, and evidence that many individuals are not investing enough for their retirement, there should be plenty of scope for the advice market to expand significantly. The challenge here for advisers is to demonstrate to more consumers that there is value to them in paying for these services."
The FSA is also continuing its range of activities to make it easier to do business with. These include: a major programme of improvements to the small firms section of the FSA website; payment of the FSA, Financial Ombudsman Service and Financial Services Compensation Scheme fees and levies in instalments; a programme of geographical roadshows and the firms online system, with the new Integrated Regulatory Reporting system which enable firms to report electronically.
