FOS

The government has an obligation to "devise and implement" a scheme to compensate Equitable Life policyholders, claims the EU Committee investigating the collapse of the insurer.

The Financial Services Authority is coming under mounting pressure from City investors to clarify the rules which apply to foreign companies listing their shares in London, says the Guardian .

Pensioners pursuing the government for compensation after their pension schemes went bust will find out tomorrow if they have won their latest court battle.

Conversations about reducing the risk of non-disclosure in protection applications usually focus on the need for insurers to improve their application forms and the propensity of consumers to lie in order to get cover.

A report into the handling of Equitable Life complaints by the Financial Ombudsman Service has concluded the behaviour of FOS has left "an abiding and entirely justifiable sense of disillusionment, frustration and injustice".

The Financial Ombudsman Service is proposing to increase IFA case fees from £360 to £400 from 1 April 2007 because of an anticipated decline in the number of cases it will receive fees for.

The number of mortgage endowment complaints against IFAs has fallen again this year, according to statistics from the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Criticisms of the retail financial distribution model by the Financial Services Authority and the Ombudsman Service, particularly over the use of commissions, have provoked a flurry of angry responses from IFAs.

A ruling on the suitability of a mortgage endowment policy will depend on whether it exposes the customer to a risk they were unwilling to take, says the ombudsman.

The Financial Ombudsman Service has launched a series of quick guides for small businesses outlining its funding, jurisdiction and how it calculates redress.