SII responds to FSA Retail Distribution Review

by Gill Montia

Story link: SII responds to FSA Retail Distribution Review

The Securities & Investment Institute (SII) has responded enthusiastically to the Financial Services Authority’s (FSA) Retail Distribution Review discussion paper.

The review seeks to enable the financial services sector to deliver its services and retain the public’s trust, and the Institute is suggesting that there are already many examples of good practice in the industry that can be adopted by the regulator.

The SII, which is the largest professional body for those who work in the securities and investment industry in the UK, has made a number of recommendations in support of the FSA’s work.

These include increasing professionalism for advisers by encouraging the membership of professional bodies, and the introduction of a Practising Certificate that would be developed to involve the individual, the professional body and the firm.

It also favours increased cooperation between retail professional bodies and is assisting in the development of a cross retail industry initiative.

According to Simon Culhane, Chief Executive of SII, “FSA wants a universal solution across the industry and we support the central aim in ensuring that whether a consumer visits an IFA, a bancassurer or a private client investment manager, the customer has access to a service that is: appropriate to the individual’s needs and delivered efficiently, with transparency of pricing, by a practitioner who adheres to high standards of integrity and ethics.”