The Association of Professional Financial Advisers is still pushing for a 15-year limit on adviser liability, Chris Hannant, director general of the Association of Professional Financial Advisers, said, adding that a regulatory discussion paper should be published in the autumn.
Despite recent talk of insurance for advisers to cover their unlimited liability, Mr Hannant tells Simoney Kyriakou, news editor of Financial Adviser, that a 15-year limit is “still what we want”.
At the start of this month Mr Hannant said the Financial Conduct Authority was more likely to lean towards an insurance solution to limit advisers never-ending liabilities, rather than support the 15-year long-stop.
Speaking to FTAdviser, Mr Hannant said there was clear support from Apfa members for a straight 15-year liability cap, but he recognised the regulator may lean more towards an insurance solution to limit adviser liabilities.
He intended to raise plans for an insurance solution with the FCA at a meeting this month.
On recent talks with the regulator on the subject, Mr Hannant said: “In some ways the easy answer for the FCA to come up with is ‘no.’ That doesn’t involve consultation, that doesn’t involve any further work on their behalf.
“I take some comfort in that all the conversations we have had with them they have been definitely taking the question of what can be done seriously.
“We will see a discussion paper in the autumn that I do strongly believe will have some substance to it. It will not just be a ‘We can’t do anything’ I am hopeful we will be able to make progress.”
Also featured in the latest FTAdviser video interview is Richard Howells, UK intermediary sales director of Zurich, who agreed the different liability options the provider have been talking about with the FCA have resulted in “positive conversations”.
He said it was for every firm to be concerned about not just those who have received complaints.
Mr Howells said the lack of a long stop had an impact on valuations of all financial advisory firms so the issue of a limit to liability was one for every adviser to engage with.
emma.hughes@ft.com
