John Gummer, chairman of the Association of Independent Financial Advisors, has attacked the UK's Financial Services Authority following the recent publication of the regulator's discussion paper on industry guidance.
Mr Gummer led the attack by disparaging the Financial Services Authority’s (FSA) regulation for trade bodies to make ‘approved’ guidance available free of charge, and claimed that the middle class regulators should make the nation understand that most people have a different experience.
Flaws of the FSA’s research were also highlighted, with the Association of Independent Financial Advisors (AIFA) chairman attacking the regulator for giving a misleading impression of independent financial advisors (IFAs), referring specifically to the alleged failures of the IFAs over the advertising of financial products.
Mr Gummer added: When parliament set up the FSA, it did so on the basis of a fundamental law which was that the regulator could not regulate without discussion with the industry.
He claimed that the FSA had failed to conform to this and that the industry was increasingly receiving regulation through speeches.