FCA

Around three quarters of IFAs plan to stay independent despite a tougher stance from the regulator on the definition of independent advice, according to an industry survey.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has appointed former chief executive of the Competition Commission (CC) David Saunders as a senior adviser on competition.

Just 18 individuals were fined by the regulator for misconduct, breaches of the rules or failures in their duties in 2013, a fall of 40% from 30 three years' before.

Complaints data published by the FCA has showed 2,479,029 new complaints opened against financial services firms between July and December 2013.

Nearly three quarters of firms are still failing to show clients the true cost of advice, the regulator has found in what it calls a "wake-up call" for the industry which has already put two firms at risk of enforcement action.

Chancellor George Osborne has written to the chairman of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) criticising the regulator for its "damaging" behaviour in releasing details of its investigation into insurance policies before a formal announcement.

The Financial Conduct Authority has taken control of the consumer credit industry from today promising tough rules for short-term high-cost credit firms and debt management companies.

Financial advisory businesses will contribute £68m to the Financial Conduct Authority's funding requirement for 2014-2015, a near-19% reduction on last year following a re-working of the regulator's fee blocks.

Advisers will find it difficult to develop much-needed cheaper advice models until the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) lowers its costs, the Association of Professional Financial Advisers (APFA) has said.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is to investigate about 30 million insurance company policies over concerns that customers are subject to "unfair" conditions.