The Financial Conduct Authority is considering widening the scope of its cash rebate ban to cover other areas of the market, including discretionary managers, self-invested pensions and execution-only brokers who themselves use platforms.
In its policy statement published today (26 April), the regulator said it will consider reading the new rules across to Sipps, execution-only brokers, life companies, discretionary fund managers and other retail markets.
The regulator said: “A number of firms commented that if we did not apply similar standards to other markets it would leave a loophole in the rules, which firms may seek to exploit by re-engineering their services to circumnavigate our rules.”
It added: “A Sipp is essentially a product wrapper which gives access to a wide range of underlying investments, in the same way that a product wrapper on a platform does.
“There is a strong case to apply similar rules, which will mean consumers pay directly for a Sipp, in the same way they will pay directly for the service a platform provides.”
The FCA said it would consult on these rules in the future.
