The recent discussion paper on product intervention is basically a 75-page confession by the FSA of its many failings in the retail market. But does it know how to put things right?
The FSA is right to bump up its supervision of product design, packaging and distribution at a much earlier stage than point of sale to an often bewildered consumer. Advisers have been calling for providers to face the same scrutiny as they do before a product is even offered to the market, and the FSA is surely right to talk about looking at the "whole of the product lifecycle from start to finish". However, already there are worrying gaps appearing. Even if we have much more supervision at an earlier stage of product design and then sale (advised or non-advised to the consumer), the...
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