With the countdown to the much anticipated Brexit vote truly underway, all eyes have been on Westminster, as the marathon debate continues with little hope of reaching any consensus.
Leaving our fate in the hands of others let's take a look at what else has been happening around us. Here's the week in news.
1) Watch the dog
The Financial Conduct Authority has come out wielding a big stick this week when it announced that more than half of all firms providing advice on pension transfers were failing to deliver suitable outcomes.
Although the regulator had looked at only a small sample of advisers, 18 firms in all, it took this opportunity to emphasise that every firm should watch out.
"Any firm that is active in this market can expect to be involved in our work in 2019. We will not hesitate to use our investigatory powers where we identify evidence of serious misconduct which could have caused harm to consumers," it said.
Some commentators questioned the findings however, suggesting they may have been skewed by a few bad eggs.
Either way, better safe than sorry one might say.
2) The truth is out there
Neil Woodford made us sit up and take listen on Tuesday when he peered into his crystal ball and declared that the UK economy won’t suffer under a no deal Brexit.
Sadly the performance of his own funds tells another story, having underperformed the market by 26 percentage points since April 2016.
He has certainly made the most of the protracted wrangling about the future of the country, scooping up shares of companies that have fallen in value as a result of market fears about life after Brexit.
3) Spotting an opportunity
Backto60, a women state pension age campaigns group, had been granted permission to file a judicial review at the Royal Courts of Justice late last week.
This means the court might consider their arguments that changes to the state pension age were illegal and should be reversed.
But it did not take long for the government to sniff out an opportunity.
Just days after it was announced there was to be a judicial review, the DWP took the decision to close any complaints that had been lodged by the Waspi women, another campaigns group fighting for similar issues.
4) Unanswered questions
The government has finally revealed the details behind its pension dashboard project.
It said it will allow for several pension dashboards to enter the space, with the first expected in 2019.
Amidst the fanfare that accompanied the announcement some commentators raised questions about substance, noting there were scant details about what would be included in the dashboards.
The government is not yet sure, it appears, to what extent state pension data will be included on the first dashboard or whether legislation for compulsion to force providers to reveal the size of pots will be introduced.
Pension experts maintain the inclusion of state pension data is a must, and that without compulsion the most important pension data would not be captured by the dashboard. What, then, is the point, one wonders.
5) Tough talk
Prime Minister Theresa May has declared war on crooked financial advisers, said she would charge HM Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority with expelling rogue elements from the financial sector.
Her tough talk in the House of Commons was prompted by a question from Nick Smith, MP for Blaenau Gwent about a constituent who’d lost thousands of pounds from his pension to a dodgy adviser.
Meanwhile, The Pensions Regulator has asked for privileges to screen phone records and emails of suspected fraudsters. Should the government accede the watchdog would have powers akin to police forces.
dan.moore@ft.com
