Is the FOS now all-powerful?

Peter Bibby, a partner at law firm DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary, says the ruling has clarified the position and powers of the FOS and given a direction to the Ombudsman that is has “quite a wide discretion to act”. “The case shows that it is not necessary for consumers to prove a legal liability on the part of the IFA firm and that the FOS can look at making an award of compensation even if technically there is no legal position for it to do so,” Bibby says. The case, involving IFA firm IFG Financial Services and the FOS, involved two customers bringing a complaint against the IFA for b...