On the one hand there is the advisory community caught between a rock and a hard place as it is attacked from below by members of the public and firms of ambulance chasers. At the same time it is attacked from above by a regulator keen to apportion blame down the chain. Result: firms go bust, advisers leave the industry and levies for the Financial Ombudsman Service balloon.
On the other hand we have a regulator continually lambasted from below by an advisory community which sees little or no benefit from the regulator, and derided from above by the Commons select committee and internal reports outlining shambolic failings. Result: promotions (knighthoods), bonuses, growing numbers and nobody to blame.
Alice in Wonderland was a fable, but I wonder if anyone will write the book and make the film about this particular fable
Philip D. Stevenson
Chartered Financial Planner
ARK Financial Planning Limited
Stalybridge
Cheshire
