FSA unveils its version of back to the future

The FSA's plans for the financial advice market signify a return to the 1980s rather than a move forward into the 21st century. Its proposals for a depolarised world, as laid out in CP 166, are meant to unleash free market forces to get the UK saving and investing. Instead they are likely to confuse the public and increase their distrust of an industry that is already unpopular because it is too complex and offers products linked to markets that are falling. The 1980s was a time of deregulation and while it had economic benefits, it is no coincidence it was also an era linked in the public...