'Baldrick levels of stupidity' as FCA leaves advisers unsearchable for a year

Directory to go live December 2020

Hannah Godfrey
clock • 3 min read

The proposed 12-month period where advisers will be unsearchable on an FCA-regulated database has been likened to an idea from Blackadder's sidekick Baldrick, whose "cunning plans" were ridiculed for their stupidity.

In policy statement PS19/7, published on Friday (8 March), the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) revealed there will be a 12 month period between December 2019 and December 2020 when advisers will not be searchable on any regulated public register or directory. Advisers who are not held to be ‘senior managers' under the regulator's incoming Senior Manager & Certification Regime (SM&CR) will be taken off the financial services register on 9 December 2019 when the regulation comes into play. At the same time, advisers will not appear on the new directory, which will hold information on ...

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