Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) chairman John Griffith-Jones said he is glad the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) did not take longer than expected, saying it achieved its aims despite failing to distinguish between guidance and advice.
The chairman told delegates at the annual dinner for members of the Association of Professional Financial Advisers (APFA) the regulator had achieved most aims apart from being clear on guidance versus advice and restricted versus independent, two key aspects for financial advisers.
Griffith-Jones (pictured) said: "(Since the RDR) messages from the adviser community were three-fold. Message number one was advisers want to do the "right thing" and don't want to get in trouble with the FOS.
"Message number two was: We want to have access to you and we want to understand what you are wanting us to do.
"I have to acknowledge the third message remains for clarity around what the rules are."
The definitions of advice versus guidance and restricted versus independent "have been very severely stressed" by the incumbent 'foreign' regulator, Griffith-Jones said, referring to the FCA.
"I appreciate the first message, we've worked very hard on the second message, and I have to acknowledge the third message remains [unexplained]," he said.
"But the message that I don't get is a rejection of the RDR project overall," he added.
"Some 18 months on and you all look alive and well to me. You could say out of adversity has sprung opportunity. And we both share a common and urgent aim of helping the consumer to achieve their financial goal and prepare a plan for their long term future, and for the vast majority the best way to do this will be with the assistance of a qualified financial adviser," Griffith-Jones added.
