Dear FSA, stop picking on platforms

Earlier this month, the regulator issued the latest in what seems like an endless stream of warnings about platform use. Banging a now-familiar drum, the brains at Canary Wharf again flagged up a number of dangers associated with using platforms in its latest Retail Conduct Risk Outlook. Whether it is concerns around conflicts of interest, disclosure standards, due diligence or single platform use, the FSA seems hell-bent on identifying those "emerging risks" which could - potentially - disadvantage consumers. But many of these so-called risks seem regurgitations of previous concer...