Profile: FSA to get tough over protection sales

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As a manager closely involved in the Financial Services Authority's insurance regime, Stephen Walton warns the regulator will be taking a much tougher stance from now on towards firms which breach its rules.

Walton, manager in the retail firms division at the FSA, became involved in insurance when he worked on the new regulatory regime for the Lloyds insurance market at the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). His career involved a three year secondment to the Treasury where he helped develop the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA) 2000, and after joining the FSA he was closely involved in the introduction of the general insurance sales regime. More recently Walton managed the FSA’s critical illness (CI) project last year, which assessed the quality of advice, product clarity and...

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