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| Financial Services
October 12 2017

FCA register proposals provoke concerns

The UK's proposed reduction of the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) register could lessen protections for small advice firms and consumers.
 
Among plans published to extend the senior managers regime to all regulated financial services firms were proposals that certified people within a firm would not need to be approved directly by the FCA. Former FCA technical specialist Rory Percival said the proposals would mean consumers had "One less step to protect themselves”, and "This may widen the scope for unauthorized advisers and scammers”.
 
ThreeSixty managing director Phil Young agreed that the absence of a public register could pose a risk for consumers seeking advice. "At the moment, having the FCA approving advisors acts as a bit of a firewall for those firms that do not do all the proper vetting," he said.