The Financial Conduct Authority, which rightly aims to protect consumers of financial services, does not always seem to understand the business models of those who are serving the end consumer.
The FCA’s senior staff have not been qualified financial advisers or have achieved the level of professional qualifications needed to advise clients (QCF level 4) and yet appointments are made with small regard to the industries the FCA regulates.
Again, this leads to disproportionate, broad-brush regulation that does nothing to help entrepreneurs such as myself and the thousands of financial advisory firms across the UK to bridge that advice gap. Again, we urge you to look into this on our behalf, and on behalf of millions of ordinary Britons who rely on our help.
Importance of promoting professionalism
The advice profession, which emphasises qualifications and progressing to chartered or certified status, is keen to demonstrate parity of esteem with the medical or legal profession.
We want to hold new trainees to the highest possible standards and achieve qualifications, but without more support from the government for apprenticeship schemes, too many new joiners become product-pushers, rather than qualified advisers.
And then we look at the regulators. Since 1988 there has been a proliferation of regulators and none of these has ever been run by a qualified financial adviser. We need to recognise that qualifications are the bedrock on which regulation is built.
- We need fairer regulatory costs and levies that support entrepreneurial businesses to thrive.
- We need more proportionate, tailored regulation that enables professions like ours to thrive and help more and more Britons - more so now than ever, amid this cost-of-living crisis.
- We would like to see findings from a risk assessment on small advisory firms and whether the regulatory/cost burdens on such are disproportionate and unnecessary.
- We need bodies like the FCA and FOS to use experienced advisers to support their work.
One last point: we also need to teach school students about the importance of looking out for financial scams. We would therefore also urge you to use your voice as an MP to push for an independent education programme for schools and for adults to improve financial literacy.
Thank you for reading this. I look forward to hearing your/the Treasury’s response in this matter.
Best regards,
YOUR NAME.
Tell us how you got on - send us your MPs' replies and any comments they were able to gain from the Treasury, at: simoney.kyriakou@ft.com, damian.fantato@ft.com or ftadviser.newsdesk@ft.com
