FCA Quizzed on Post-RDR Advice Gap
The FCA is facing new questions about the availability of financial advice to the regular consumer, after an MP enquired about what the regulator plans to do to plug the advice gap.
Questions were asked during a Treasury select committee related to the Heath Report, as well as the increasing number of people who say that they do not have access to financial advice since the RDR.
Within the meeting, Martin Wheatley, chief executive at the FCA, and John Griffith-Jones, chairman at the FCA, were asked questions related to what they planned to do in the future to make sure more people have access to financial advice.
The MP in question, Steve Baker of the Conservative party, quoted from the Heath Report, which earlier this year revealed that the amount of IFA’s in the market has reduced, and with few other options offering regulated financial advice at this time, consumers have been left with nowhere to turn.
However, Mr Wheatley responded by citing the market as “dynamic”, and said that the FCA has been running workshops where people discussed how they would offer services in the future. He said: “The market is dynamic and ever-changing, and there are a number of smaller organisations looking to launch into the market.
“We are also seeing a wave of innovation, as well as financial technology and innovation, and we are trying to encourage this.
“Engaging with the regulator is scary, so we have set up an innovation hub to help with this”.
There have also been plenty of questions asked recently about where the line is drawn between advice, information and guidance when dealing with financial queries, particularly with regards to the Government’s offer of free pension guidance from April 2015. Mr Wheatley was asked about this, and was also quizzed on why firms that have been chosen to offer this guidance are not subject to FCA authorisation.
He said: “It is an important distinction that holds the market together.
“Our role is to set compliance but not authorise, and based on that fact there will not be a conflict of interest”.
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