Personal Finance Network

A roundup by Gerry Lanchin, Network Co-ordinator

A great deal is happening at the present moment and much of it will continue to preoccupy us for, certainly, the next couple of years! The Federation is hard put to keep up with it all and represent the interests of members.Here are the main items:

Pensions.

Remedying the past mis-selling rumbles on. Watch out for the publicity campaign by the FSA. The DSS Green Paper "A new contract for welfare: PARTNERSHIP IN PENSIONS" finally emerged in December. A free summary is available; phone 0181 867 3201. Comments have to be in by March 31st. Give us your views soon.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA)

The FSA is getting under way, bringing together, or replacing practically all the existing financial regulatory authorities and working out how to amalgamate the several present Ombudsmen by a single one.

But the Bill setting it up, The Financial Services and Markets Bill, has not yet started its Parliamentary process. A first draft came out last year. We, and others, thought it badly flawed in some respects. (The NCC has just published its valuable and comprehensive comments). A revised draft is expected, but only after scrutiny by the (novel) joint Commons and Lords Committee has begun. There is a very long way to go, albeit under pressure, on this. If any Member would like to see what we have said to the Treasury, let me know (01442 875283).

Recent consultation papers issued by the FSA include those on: Enforcing the new regime; Principles for business (the NCC and we both believe that principles belong in the Bill, rather than in FSA guidance), Consumer Education, Regulation of business between professionals, and ‘Projections’.

Insurance.

In November the trade bodies concerned with general insurance - i.e. insurance, the conduct of business of which is not regulated by the FSA - issued a consultation paper on new arrangements - ‘General Insurance Self-Regulation: consultation document’ . In the same month the Treasury issued ‘Proposed Amendments to the Credit Unions Act of 1979, to help the movement develop’. Both of these are very important.

Exclusion from Financial Services.

Of relevance to the issues of exclusion from financial services are last November’s report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation ‘Small is Bankable’ dealing with community reinvestment, and the Office of Fair Trading report on ‘Vulnerable Consumers and Financial Services’ published in January.

Distance Selling.

There is ongoing work, which we leave, with thanks, to the Consumers in Europe Group, on the draft Directive on Distance Selling of Financial Services.

New Codes.

Last, but by no means least, we are keeping a beady eye on the recent changes to the Banking Code and on the new code dealing with Mortgage Intermediaries.

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