FSA rules to boost retail ETF market

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The Financial Services Authority has published rules removing commission bias from the sale of retail investment products, which is set to boost retail use of ETFs, industry experts say.

The regulator's Retail Distribution Review (RDR) says from the end of 2012, firms will not be able to accept commission in return for recommending specific products. Independent advisory firms will also have to offer the whole range of retail investment products to clients, including ETFs, in order to be coined truly independent. The policy statement confirmed ETFs already come under the category ‘Packaged Product Regime,' and are therefore products which advisers should now be considering. Furthermore the new professional standard rules will require both independent and restricted...

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