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Cofunds’ Davis says lack of FSA clarity hitting platforms
Cofunds chief says lack of detailed rules from the FSA on how legacy business and rebates on platforms must be handled is proving “very difficult.”
Martin Davis, chief executive of Cofunds, has told FTAdviser that “the devil is always in the detail” with regulatory reform and that a lack of clarity from the Financial Services Authority has proven “very difficult”.
In a video interview with FTAdviser, Mr Davis said: “The high level rules and where the FSA is going has been clear for a number of years now and that has been very helpful.
“The problem is the devil is always in the detail. It is how the rules are implemented, what happens when advice is disturbed and the detail behind those rules that has always been the issue.
“Although I think people have understood at a high level where the FSA is going it is the implementation of those rules, how they are applied, that has been a real issue.
“As we get closer to RDR, closer to the detail, not knowing exactly how commission will be dealt with, how products will be remunerated is very, very complex.
“The original rules were laid out a number of years ago and the markets have evolved.
“Platforms now have £160bn plus on them and that is likely to grow or quite possibly quadruple over the next few years and therefore how platforms play in the rules needs to be built in and that is all about the detail.
“With very few months now before the implementation of RDR, not knowing exactly the detail of how platforms, legacy, rebates, how all of that will play out is very difficult for the industry.”
