Park Row advisers in limbo as they wait for FSA
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Former Park Row advisers have hit out at the FSA after being left in limbo while they continue to wait for the regulator to re-authorise them.
Last week, Money Marketing revealed that many of the 240 former Park Row advisers were facing delays in gaining re-authorisation. The regulator says it can take up to three months to re-authorise the advisers who have not been able to advise clients since November 13. It has now sent a large sample of advisers extra questions to answer.
MoneyMarketing.co.uk has been flooded with comments from ex-Park Row advisers who have been unable to earn an income or offer any advice to their clients.
Both Tenet and Personal Touch Financial Services, who took on the majority of Park Row advisers, have confirmed they are experiencing delays.
One adviser who wants to remain anonymous says: “Clients are leaving and business is being redirected due to this mess and shocking behaviour by the FSA.”
Another said: “The reality is that we all feel deflated, powerless and let down to the point of apathy. Worse, we are scared that the FSA will find more and more excuses to delay or even stop our authorisations.”
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Readers' comments (22)
john | 17 Dec 2009 9:40 am
what happened to human rights they should be allowed to continue advising if they were authorised before. The FSA can check them out in their time, lets stop their wages for four months
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Bazza | 17 Dec 2009 9:50 am
Merry Christmas FSA Out of touch and Reality as usual. All us Professional people are still awed by their bad Decisions and Incompetence and this is another .Lets say to them MERRY CHRISTMAS and suffer FOUR MONTHS WITHOUT SALARIES oh and a happy new year GOD SAVE US
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Ken Mac | 17 Dec 2009 9:57 am
This is yet another example of the massive waste of time and money spent on regulation. It is job justification. All the authorisation info is held on the FSA computers. Authorisations up to date - yes, Any complaints/disciplinary - no. Job done. Effectively all these people are doing is moving to a different company with a new address, nothing else has changed.
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michael brayne | 17 Dec 2009 9:57 am
It's about time the FSA introduced a new programme called "Treating Advisers Fairly" TAF.
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Stuart Rathbone | 17 Dec 2009 10:04 am
You need to watch or watch again Terry Gilliam’s Brazil to get a handle on the world we now live in.
The only consolation (if it is such) is that it is not just us who have to labour under such burdens. All folks in all walks of life who try to do something are stymied by the quangocracy this country has become.
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Pat | 17 Dec 2009 10:08 am
I'm devastated. Been waiting 6 weeks already for them to sign me off.
The FSA have not requested any further information from me and have everything that is required to get re-authorised.
I've been in this business for 23 years.
Christmas is cancelled. Will have to re-mortgage my house and regrettably I have had to let go my admin assistant at the worse time of year possible.
If you contact the FSA you get a brick wall and then get an email saying that you have not to contact them again under any circumstances and that any enquiries must be directed through the network that you are going to.
Park Row Exexcutives won't reply to emails or calls and should hang their heads in shame.
FSA are the worse thing that has happend to this industry.
I wonder if any of the recent additions to the FSA from other failed firms will have to wait up to 3 months to get re-authorised. DOUBLE STANDARDS.
If this was a national bank that we were dealing with here then it would be sorted out within 3 days nevermind 3 months.
As a result of this disgraceful act by the FSA I find myself having to let go staff, my earnings greatly effected, taking on additional borrowing to get by, not being able to support my family in the way that I want, a very depressed xmas period and not being able to purchase the items that I want for my kids, loss of clients that have been with me for many a year and that trust me, redirection of business, etc etc - I could go on but the thought of all this is further depressing.
The mongrels at Labour should be doing something about this - they created this monster of a regulator.
Bring back the Tories (something I thought I would never say) if they promise to dispand the FSA.
Nothing left to say.
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Glenn Peniston | 17 Dec 2009 10:19 am
I really feel for all Park Row Advisors.
How come solicitors and doctors dont have to re-register every time they change firms or hospitals, we have all got our qualifications and the FSA would know if any of these brokers have complaints against them so just let them keep trading
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Barry Painter | 17 Dec 2009 10:27 am
This article has angered me. The first action that should be taken is for these advisers to refer their plight to AIFA and to broadcast to other IFA firms that they should not take over their clients.
I have also reffered this article to my local MP,Mark Hoban - Shadow Treasury Secretary and the Conservative spokesman on Financial Regulation asking that he deal with this matter urgently as this could happen to any of us IFA's.
I hope that Money Marketing will approach the Treasury,Mark Hoban and the Liberal Treasury Spokesman for their comments.
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Realist | 17 Dec 2009 10:40 am
Do former Park Row advisers not realise the level of investigation that the firm was under from the FSA?
There's nothing Park Row execs can do, they're out of jobs and it's out of their hands, possibly not before time.
When will advisers wake up to the fact that
working for a loss-making business that is paying them unrealistic commission levels will always lead to this kind of an end?
If you're self-employed, take note - you get paid a lot of money in the good times, but when things go wrong, the responsibility and liability for sorting it is yours, not anyone else's!
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Julian Stevens | 17 Dec 2009 10:54 am
My sincerest sympathies to all you guys out there. It must be terrible, given that whatever it is the FSA is so insistent on investigating must surely be at the management level of Park Row and not the activities of individual, front line advisers.
I hope you finally get re-authorised early in the New Year.
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