IFP and CII will seek accredited body status
Share
The Institute of Financial Planning, the Personal Finance Society and the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment are applying to the FSA for accredited body status.
The regulator confirmed in its final rules on professionalism, published last week, that advisers will need to hold a statement of professional standing from January 2013. The statements will be issued by FSA-accredited bodies.
IFP chief executive Nick Cann says: “We will apply within the timeframe for accredited body status. What we still need to understand, and what we will take up directly with the FSA, is what the relationship with the regulator and the share of information looks like.
“This is a new style of relationship for us and we need to establish what the requirements are.”
PFS chief executive Fay Goddard says: “We will be applying pretty quickly for the accredited status. The wheels are already in motion and as soon as we are in a position to issue statements of professional standing, we will.”
Money Marketing understands that Aifa is unlikely to apply for accredited status after raising concerns about the value of accredited bodies. Policy director Andrew Strange says: “Aifa argued strongly that the organisations best suited to making assessments of adviser competence are indeed firms.”
Sesame Bankhall Group, which said in July it was considering applying for accreditation, now says it is unlikely it will do so. A spokesman says: “The current position is it is unlikely we will be applying to become an accredited body. However, we will be analysing the policy statement in detail before making a final decision.”
If you enjoyed this article, sign up here to receive daily email updates from Money Marketing and Follow @_moneymarketing
