FCA's Wheatley has 'overstepped commercial lines'

Nicola Brittain
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The Financial Conduct Authority chief executive's statement that advisers should not charge their clients a percentage of assets "significantly overstepped commercial lines" according to one managing director and adviser.

Affluent Financial Planning managing director and IFA Carl Melvin said that Martin Wheatley's comments, made at the Financial Service Authority's (FSA) last annual conference in July, were "ill advised" and "overstepped commercial lines". At the time Wheatley (pictured) said that charging a percentage could result in 'dealing bias' where the adviser only gets paid if people buy a product and that a fixed fee was preferable. However, Melvin said that many advisers charge a fee prior to implementation which helps deal with this bias. He added: "Similarly some have argued that wealthy...

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