Treasury and FSA responses "most complacent", says Which Magazine
Which Magazines principal policy advisor comments on the Financial Service Authorities response regarding long-term savings report.
On the government and FSA’s response to the Treasury Select Committee report Restoring confidence in long-term savings, Mick McAteer, principal policy adviser Which?, said: "This is one of the most complacent responses by Treasury and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) we’ve ever seen. "In a week where the Turner report set out the scale of the pensions crisis facing the UK, and a Which? survey found that fewer than one in three trust financial institutions to run their pension, this response suggests the government and our main financial regulator - which has a statutory duty to maintain confidence in the financial system - just do not recognise the crisis in confidence facing the UK financial services industry." "The Treasury says it is implementing measures to strengthen shareholders ability to hold directors to account. This is to entirely miss the point on the real meaning of corporate governance and accountability and the failure of competition to deliver the products consumers need. The Treasury should be trying to ensure that the consumer interest is represented from the boardroom to the point of sale rather than protect shareholders even further." "We very much welcome the Treasury Select Committee’s recommendation for a new forum to focus on how the industry can better serve consumers and Which? is ready to play a part in that forum. But the Treasury statement that the forum should be industry led is astonishing." "The FSA has further ducked out of making the market work by ruling out a direct ban or limit on commission as it wouldn't be 'proportionate'. Instead they're relying on disclosure to make markets work which has been shown to fail in the past. The FSA needs to get tough." "Far from restoring consumer confidence, this response will do little to reassure consumers that the government and FSA have their interests at heart. A radical reform of the entire long-term savings system is needed. Only then will consumers be able to make confident choices." Financial News Feeds provided by OneCompare.com
Date published: 10/15/2004 11:20:34 AM
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