Regulation

Advisers have welcomed the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) first crack-down on an advisory firm which had permissions to advise but no actual qualified advisers, although they say the regulator should have acted sooner.

Hargreaves Lansdown has pushed back its widely anticipated pricing announcement until next year, having previously said it would be revealed in early December.

The Retail Distribution Review (RDR) has "intensified the competitive environment", according to wealth manager Brewin Dolphin, as it announces profit before tax for the year to September was 4% down on the previous year.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a warning to investors about an unauthorised firm it believes has been targeting people in the UK.

A Treasury sub-committee, led by Labour MP George Mudie, has today called for an urgent independent review into the Money Advice Service (MAS), after it found "serious problems" in how the body operated.

MPs have called for an urgent independent review into the Money Advice Service (MAS) after a damning report criticised its role and reach, and questioned the salaries it pays its top executives.

Investors view the whole of the financial services industry through the prism of banks' behaviour, meaning trade bodies must do more to talk up the good the profession does, according to ex-Morningstar OBSR managing director Richard Romer-Lee.

UNREGULATED

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) will have to undergo an independent skilled person review of its lending practices following allegations that it put some good and viable businesses into default so it could boost profits.

Consumers priced out of full advice may yet be able to seek the expertise of an adviser via a chargeable "dip in, dip out" information-only model, according to Cofunds distribution director Andy Coleman.