Advisers today branded proposals to effectively ban self-certification mortgages "inappropriate", saying they will leave the self-employed unable to access the mortgage market.

Zurich UK Life's Richard Howells says there are three key components to consider when building a new business model. The first? Price.

Newly-formed intermediary giant Sesame Bankhall Group will immediately set about helping its IFAs transition their businesses to be ready to operate an adviser charging model from 1 January 2013.

The growing number of adviser firms setting up a business page on Facebook suggests they are finally embracing the benefits of social networking.

An online CPD platform enabling advisers to log their points has been launched by the Institute of Financial Planning (IFP).

The FSA is being warned to be "especially aware" of firms operating in the restricted advice space using ‘weasel words' to hide their limitations and pass themselves off as independent practitioners.

Paraplanners should no longer be the preserve of the mid-to-large sized IFAs and would be a good investment for even one-man practitioners, the newly-crowned paraplanner of the year says.

A petition calling on the Government to introduce personal finance lessons in schools has been launched by LifeSearch.

The FSA is happy with the number of registered individuals in the market but wants just a third of the firms, a growing IFA consolidator says.

The FSA today told company chief executives it remains their responsibility to ensure job candidates for significant roles are "fit and proper", even though it will vet them too.