But in reality the regulator should in some ways be applauded for some of its successes in equal measure. We should be grateful that the FSA was not more prescriptive about how we work. It merely laid down a template about how things were to be done and then left the industry to ‘get on with it’ – ‘know your client’ being a classic example. The FSA has never prescribed a form or list of questions that must be asked and answers recorded; that was for each adviser or firm to satisfy the ‘know your client’ dictum.
Similarly the retail distribution review; it may have been prescriptive about level four but not how that was to be achieved and measured. Fee-based was logical and much needed but it was left to individual firms to figure out how this was to work for them.
Too much of the ire that has been directed at the FSA actually calls for it to be more prescriptive and we absolutely do not want a straitjacket of a regulator. So welcome to the Financial Conduct Authority keep up the good work of the FSA.
Philip D Stevenson
Chartered financial planner
ARK Financial Planning
Stalybridge
Cheshire
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