Regulation

Hargreaves Lansdown has reported a record pre-tax profit of £209.8m for the year to 30 June after it weathered the impact of changes to its charging model and falling returns on cash.

The Financial Services Consumer Panel (FSCP) has called for the Money Advice Service (MAS) to widen its remit from generic advice to helping people "understand products" and "choosing a pension or a mortgage".

The government is seeking the public's views on what it would like to see in the Autumn Statement 2014, which will take place on 3 December.

One adviser's story coaxing clients to fees

Prudential has topped the Financial Ombudsman Service's (FOS) list of most complained about pension firms after consumer gripes against the firm were up 2% on the previous half year.

Network Sesame has again come out top as the most complained about advice firm, although numbers of cases against it were down, according to the Financial Ombudsman Service's (FOS) half yearly figures published today.

A 'charter' for financial services firms using social media has launched weeks after the regulator published guidelines on how to communicate compliantly on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

All regulated financial advisers could be included on a new directory being set up by the Money Advice Service (MAS) after the industry and consumers gave the green light to the project.

The Whitechurch Network spent more than £704,000 in 2013 settling claims related to advice given by its appointed representatives on Keydata and Arch Cru.

More than 130 businesses have signed a letter saying the business case for Scottish independence "has not been made".