The Financial Services Authority's (FSA) failure to clamp down on poor financial advice in banks and promote independent alternatives shows it is ‘hostile to consumers', it has been claimed.
A recent undercover investigation by Which? found just five out of 37 advisers in banks and building societies gave ‘good' advice, with the rest misjudging the risk appetites of customers, directing them towards high-commission products or not giving them adequate information. Phil Billingham, strategy consultant at Threesixty, said the findings merely echoed previous research and once again brought into the spotlight the FSA's failure to back independent financial advice. "Everybody gets tarred with the same brush and the FSA attaches no importance at all to the independence or integ...
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