Goodbye guidance: A new shape for advice and client support

The Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) latest paper is about the advice/guidance boundary and seeks to reduce the advice gap, and I suppose the guidance gap. It is to be commended on its brevity - at just 62 pages it's a mere novella compared to most of the watchdog's output. But what problem are we trying to address here? We know that advice - a clear recommendation based on your personal circumstances is a good thing that many find useful. We also know that most people don't receive advice because: They don't think they need it  They don't know where to get it They suspect or...