With the regulator undertaking a series of reviews aimed at developing and further improving the market; including reviews into the self-cert market in addition to training and competence and ‘Treating Customers Fairly’ (TCF), Stephen Bland, director of small firms at the FSA, confirmed that it would be looking at increasing its supervision of small firms, which would have to be met by an increase in adviser fees.
Speaking at the Personal Finance Society conference, Bland said: “There will be a bit of a shake out as we move towards higher standards in the IFA industry. There will be a short-term rise in direct FSA costs, but overall the package should go down and I have every confidence there will be a healthy community going forward.”
However, Ashley Clark, director of NeedAnAdvisor.com, said: “We shouldn’t have to pay for the bad eggs in the industry. The FSA should treat me as it expects me to treat my clients. I quote my clients a fee for specific work I do for them, and I expect the FSA to quote me a fee for the job it does for me.
“It’s not fair to put up a smoke screen to shoulder the increased costs.”
get the daily news delivered to your inbox
find the latest industry jobs
download our news ticker
