There were nearly 500 complaints against the Financial Conduct Authority in the year to 30 November 2015, the regulator has said.
During the year 491 complaints against the FCA were received and 546 were closed - of the latter 47 per cent were not investigated.
In its latest Data Bulletin the FCA said: “This can be for a variety of reasons, including that the complaint is a general expression of dis-satisfaction where no misconduct has been alleged, or that the allegations are excluded, referred, deferred or outside of our scope.”
Meanwhile 291 allegations were investigated by the FCA, with 58 per cent of complaints not upheld and 42 per cent were upheld in whole or in part.
The FCA has said it plans to publish data on complaints in its Data Bulletins as part of its drive to be a more transparent regulator.
The latest bulletin also revealed the regulator reviewed 1,108 financial promotions between 1 July and 30 September 2015.
During this time, 34 cases resulted in one or more promotions being amended or withdrawn through the regulator’s interaction with firms.
Most of these cases - 22 of them or 65 per cent - were relating to consumer credit while the second largest group of complaints related to retail investment promotional material.
This is a dramatic drop in the number of financial promotions the FCA reviewed in the similar period of 2014, when 3,604 were looked into.
During that period 181 cases resulted in one or more promotions being amended or withdrawn.
Another area the bulletin covered was the number of attestations - a supervisory tool the FCA uses to ensure a firm’s senior management is focused on resolving specific issues.
In the long-term savings and pensions sector there were five attestations while in the wholesale and investment management sector there were 10.
An attestation is when the FCA requests a personal commitment from an approved person at a regulated firm that specific action has been taken or will be taken.
According to the regulator the aim of an attestation is to ensure there is clear accountability and a focus from senior management on those specific issues where we would like to see change within firms, often without ongoing regulatory involvement.
Adviser view
Kevin Morgan, managing director of Hertfordshire-based Consilium Financial Planning, said: “It is a bit of a poisoned chalice for the FCA. They are the appointed regulator so they must regulate.
“My frustration is to do with the way the FCA requests information through their Connect website. It is very difficult to navigate and ought to be less complicated.”
