It certainly feels as if things are moving in terms of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and the potential for significant reforms.
The backdrop however is rising bills though advisers will benefit from the ‘pool system’ so they will pay £240m, the same as last year but with the levy expected to breach £1bn in compensation according to the FSCS itself.
One group of intermediaries will see rising bills however with a 667% hike for mortgage intermediaries.
There is however what looks to be significant movement first within the FSCS itself with two trade websites headlining on different proposals for change from their just published annual report.
New Model Adviser focuses on chairman Marshall Bailey saying he would like to see the FCA introduce a new levy for advisers that include high-risk investments in their clients’ portfolios.
‘To promote greater simplicity, we support exploring how to prevent unsuitable high-risk products being sold to mass-market consumers. This could include implementing a higher levy for firms that include them in their product portfolio,” he says.
Financial Adviser focuses on his suggestions that individuals involved in multiple failures to be excluded from the industry.
“Only by taking firm action on poor conduct, such as misselling, will we break the cycle of unacceptable practices that detrimentally affect the whole industry,” he says.
The Treasury has set up a taskforce to address FSCS levy concerns and work with the FCA, but it appears to be consist of asset managers.
It looks as if advisers need to get involved swiftly as a matter of urgency.
Finally in other news, Timeline CEO Abraham Okusanya has warned that retirees spending too little is as big as a problem as them spending too much and that advisers play a crucial role in getting the balance right.
In a white paper, titled Retirement Spending Pattern - Implications for Retirement Income Sustainability, Okusanya outlined the patterns and trends in how expenditure changes in retirement.
Labour MPs Nick Smith and Stephen Kinnock write to FCA chief executive Nikhil Rathi to hold bad advisers to account over British Steel.
