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Aifa worries over FSA structured product guidance
Advisers have been asked to submit evidence showing what impact the FSA's recent guidance on structured products has had on their business, due to "real concerns" held by the Association of IFAs (Aifa).
Aifa has called for its members to provide evidence on the recent guidance, including an FSA template for firms to use where they receive a complaint about a product sold with a Lehmans linkage.
Aifa said firms should also review the approach taken to all previous advised sales of any structured investment products.
The trade body will form a working group of interested members to discuss the major issues facing firms.
The first meeting is set for Friday (4 December) and will focus on the direct impact of the guidance provided, particularly around concentration of assets risk, the assessment that these products are not suitable for risk averse customers, and the contagion risk of the approach to the concentration of assets.
Robert Sinclair, director of Aifa, said: "We recognise the potential impact of the regulator's guidance on members and are calling on interested parties to provide us with feedback on this issue.
"We would also welcome members' participation in a working group set up to address the main concerns of firms.
"This will allow us to demonstrate to the regulator the affect this guidance will have on the advice profession.
"Some errors were made in the advice process that we must learn from.
"However, we have real concerns with some of the assumptions made in the recent guidance published by the regulator."