Gillian Cardy, managing director of trade body IFA Centre, said the rules change is essentially catching up with the existing status quo.
She said: “They have been saying for a long time that they wanted to change the rules. The reason they wanted to change them isn’t necessarily to damage IFAs, but that they refer their business to stock brokers and wealth managers.
“Up until now we have had a reasonably clear view that solicitors in most cases should be referring their clients to IFAs, but once they have weakened their position it’s going to be quite difficult for the SRA to decide which bit of restricted they are OK with.”
Steven Cameron, head of regulatory strategy at Aegon, said: “I hope other equivalent bodies will engage with this process to reach an informed decision for their members.”
