A financial adviser who demanded the Financial Conduct Authority refund an increase in the Financial Services Compensation Scheme levy because they couldn’t afford the charge, has had their complaint rejected.
The adviser, whose identity has not been revealed, complained to the Financial Services Complaints Commissioner after the FCA ruled their complaint invalid.
They had written to the FCA saying the fees and levies allocation system was not fit for purpose and is in need of radical reform.
The IFA added they would be unlikely to be able to continue in the profession this year without significant change and went on to ask for a full reimbursement of the 2016 new additional amount in fees and levies because they could not afford it and did not wish to be forced out of their chosen profession.
The FCA decided to treat the letter as a complaint against the FCA but said that the issues you had raised were excluded.
Complaints commissioner Antony Townsend said the regulator was right to do this because the complaint related to “the performance of the regulators’ legislative functions” as defined in the Financial Services Act 2012.
In a letter to the adviser he said: “I can understand that it might have been irritating to be told your letter had been treated as a complaint that was immediately excluded.
“In my view, the matters you raised with the FCA – quite legitimately – were really a contribution to the debate on the FCA’s policies, rather than a complaint suitable for the Complaints Scheme, and it might have been better for the FCA to have treated them in that way.
“Nevertheless, the Complaints Team’s response did include additional information and attempted to answer the questions you had posed.”
Last month it was announced that life and pensions advisers face paying £10m more than forecast to the FSCS, as bad Sipp advice continues to bite.
Most industry sectors will contribute less in 2016 to 2017 than FSCS forecast in January - with the exception of the life and pensions intermediaries sector.
The FCA has already begun work on a review into the FSCS levy which is due to be completed later this year and which will also look into professional indemnity insurance.
The chairman of the FCA, John Griffith Jones, has said making sure the FSCS levy is fair towards IFAs will be one of the focuses of this review.
