A recent rule change preventing the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) from dismissing complaints about investment performance outright will have little impact on the industry, according to lawyers and the FOS.
Under new European rules that came into force in July, the Ombudsman is now no longer able to simply dismiss complaints based on the underperformance of an investment. This is because a sub clause in the regulator's rule book was removed to align UK rules with the European Alternative Dispute Resolution directive. The FCA's rules previously read: "The Ombudsman may dismiss a complaint referred to the Financial Ombudsman Service without considering its merits if the Ombudsman considers that it is a complaint about investment performance." Some advisers feared the move could open the...
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