The ombudsman's double whammy

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The Financial Ombudsman Service caused a lot of anger among IFAonline readers last week with a double whammy in its monthly newsletter, attacking so-called ‘dramatic' claims and saying a small firms division is unnecessary.

Chief ombudsman Walter Merricks said threats of judicial review would not rock the Fos’s foundations and he attacked claims as being dramatic and contradictory. So does this mean he is merely paying lip service to complaints about the scheme? If so, the industry is entitled to feel very worried because by ignoring threats of judicial review the Fos will never be able to move along with changing times or, indeed, improve the way it operates. History has shown us that one of the best ways to reform legislation is by getting a case through the courts, which may deem the current law to...

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