FSCS

Thousands of investors in Keydata plans backed by Lifemark are facing another setback in their bid for compensation after the administrator says he is "really questioning" the quality of traded life policies (TLP).

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) is to launch a £4m publicity campaign in the new year to boost consumers' awareness of its activities.

The FSCS has denied claims Lifemark investors will forfeit their rights to compensation if they reject a planned rescue deal for the fund.

A group of 700 investors who lost millions in Keydata backer SLS Capital are sending their IFAs to meet lawyers raising a case against the fund's supervisors.

The FSCS is facing angry calls from both IFAs and investors to make its decision-making process more transparent, after two controversial judgments involving Lifemark-backed Keydata bonds and Lehman Brothers-backed NDF products.

Many cutting remarks have been made about AIFA's apparently-limp challenge to Keydata's classification as an intermediary. Now a lawyer appears to have summed them all up rather succinctly.

Keydata had no discretion to buy or sell bonds and so was not involved in investment management and could not be included in that FSCS sub-class for the purposes of recovering compensation costs, a court heard today.

The FSCS decided to allocate Keydata compensation claims to the investment intermediation sub-class before consulting the industry and ignored calls for a review into its decision, a court heard today.

Paul Etheridge, chairman of Prestwood Group, explains why advisers who believe the RDR presents the biggest challenge to the industry would do well to think again...

A review into how the industry pays for the FSCS has been delayed due to recent changes to the regulatory landscape, the FSA has confirmed.