The FSA has met trade association representatives to discuss a market-based solution for greater com...
The FSA has met trade association representatives to discuss a market-based solution for greater commission and status disclosure.
The FSA made it clear at a meeting with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Insurance and Financial Services that it would prefer the market to come up with a solution and that discussions with insurer, broker and buyer trade bodies were heading in the right direction.
In particular, the FSA wants to see all costs of intermediation set out in an understandable and comparable way, and that the status of the firm offering the advice and the extent to which it searches and accesses the market should also be clear to customers.
The FSA said it had a market solution in "skeletal form" and that the challenge was now to turn that into something effective. The alternative, the FSA told MPs, would be to introduce commission disclosure rules, possibly making it mandatory - a solution the FSA made clear it would pursue if necessary.
Steve White, head of compliance at British Insurance Brokers' Association (Biba), said: "The FSA has made it clear that it is looking for an industry-led solution and we must make sure we achieve an acceptable outcome for the wider market, although we're aware we can't please everyone. We will be having more meetings over the coming weeks."
In other moves, Biba and the Institute of Insurance Brokers have confirmed they are keen to unite to address the regulatory concerns about transparency, disclosure and conflicts of interest.
