Independent and whole of market advisers "the same", says FSA

Robin Gordon-Walker, press officer at the FSA, says the City watchdog is not monitoring which firms decide to offer independent advice and which decide to offer whole-of-market advice because the regulatory body believes there is not much difference between them. “We basically treat them all as financial advisers,” he says. Gordon-Walker claims whole-of-market and independent advisers are very similar because they share the common factor of not being tied, as opposed to single-tied and multi-tied advisers. FSA rules post-depolarisation state “independent” advisers must meet the FSA’...