FOS freezes adviser levy and cuts budget
The Financial Ombudsman Service has frozen its compulsory levy which is partially funded by advisers and will cut its budget by 11% over the next tax year.
The Financial Ombudsman Service has frozen its compulsory levy which is partially funded by advisers and will cut its budget by 11% over the next tax year.
A British-based financial adviser, who fled to Malaysia after his company collapsed, has confessed to setting up a Ponzi scheme which inflicted millions of pounds in losses on investors.
Suitability standards in the asset management industry are set to come under Financial Conduct Authority scrutiny in 2015/16, the regulator said in its business plan for the period.
The UK governments last budget before the election revealed plans to extend its pension reforms to allow existing annuity holders to sell their contracts from 2006, offered a range of new incentives to save and tightened rules on tax avoidance.
The UK’s financial watchdog will face “serious criticism” this week over its announcement of an inquiry which caused stocks to plummet across the insurance market, reports suggest.
Two former directors of failed financial advisory firm TailorMade Independent, which advised clients on self-invested personal pension transfers into troubled overseas property company Harlequin, have been banned by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Jersey-headquartered life insurer, Phoenix Group, said potential fraudsters attempted to steal £8m of clients’ pension savings last year.
A surge in complaints about bad SIPP advice has led the Financial Services Compensation Scheme to lay down a £20m interim levy on life and pensions intermediaries.
The dust is still swirling around the House of Commons and copies of white papers are being furiously read, but the initial reactions are in on this year’s national budget. And, the consensus, if one believes twitter and the stock market seems to be mixed.
The UK Government has announced in todays Budget that it will close the Liechtenstein Disclosure Facility (LDF) half a year earlier than expected in order to make room for a tougher disclosure facility.
The UK government will remove tax restrictions on people who want to sell the income stream from an existing annuity from 6 April next year, effectively giving them similar freedoms as those soon to be enjoyed by those in defined contribution savings plans.
As Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne limbers up to deliver the 2015 Budget, wealth managers and financial advisers have reason to be gleeful and cause to worry.