FSA

The FSA plans to create a new consumer protection committee tasked with "scanning" the market for emerging risks.

The FSA is to step up its monitoring of banks' financial health by testing them against 8.1% economic contraction, from peak to trough until 2014, and a 13.3% unemployment rate.

Paul Burgin examines the changing world of structured product design, marketing and distribution legislation.

Advisers are more aware than ever of structured products but education is the key to them moving from a niche player into the mainstream.

Independent advisers are being blamed for the failings of fund managers and have become scapegoats for the industry's problems, Applewood Wealth Management's Karl Hartey says.

The FSA will extend its consultation on planned Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) market reforms by six weeks, further delaying fair treatment for customers says an independent consumer panel.

FSA plans in the RDR to recognise trade bodies only if they meet a strict set of criteria will likely result in higher fees and lower membership, threesixty warns.

Financial advice firms are being urged to revisit their business checking procedures in the wake of the public censure and £7.8m customer redress ruling at IFA Park Row.

Advisers lacking specialist investment expertise should be "discouraged" from recommending funds of hedge funds and other alternative investments, despite the FSA unblocking access for retail clients.

Peter Lawrence spent 30 years in IT, but last year launched his own IFA firm. At a time when there is an apparent exodus of advisers, this is a move that goes against the grain.