FCA's CP26/10 lets firms gather less - it doesn't let them assume more

'A family knowing a client's wishes is not the same as the client stating them'

clock • 5 min read

Mark Buck argues that as the FCA relaxes what advisers must gather, the file still needs to show who actually said what, and when…

An adviser is on a review call with a client and her adult son, who isn't her attorney under a registered power of attorney, just there for support. Partway through, he says his mother wants to move away from equities now she's retired. The adviser records it as the client's wish and adjusts the portfolio. Nobody establishes whether that's something the client said herself, something she once said to her son, or simply his own view of what she'd probably want. Months later, still entirely capable of speaking for herself, she asks why her portfolio suddenly looks so cautious. This is e...

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