Regulatory contempt

I refer to your article FSA blames industry for paper mountain (PB Electronic, November 2005), which infers that 90% of UK regulatory cost is due to regulatory requirements from the EU. Is this the intention? If so, this statement from the Financial Services Authority is little short of a blatant lie.

The FSA has been so prescriptive concerning the use and presentation of the new 'key facts' documents, for example, that there is no room for firms to create more paper than is necessary. They are told exactly what to do. Again, this is little more than 'spin' from the regulator.

The industry desperately wants to reduce the amount of paper it is required to give to customers. It wastes time and confuses the few that have any interest in reading it. The rest just do not bother. Is this effective regulation?

There are a growing number of angry people, professional people, working in the UK financial services industry that have an increasing level of contempt for the regulatory organisation and, before long, something has to give.

Andrew Dickson, Inedependent financial adviser.

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