FSA may relax on QCF level four for simplified advice
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The FSA may reconsider its req-uirement for simplified advisers to be qualified to QCF level four if advice is delivered via an automated service.
Speaking at an Association of British Insurers’ conference this week, FSA director of conduct policy Sheila Nicoll said where simplified advice is delivered via an automated service, QCF level four may not be required. She said: “There is also a question of how the qualification requirements might apply in a simplified advice process that is fully automated.”
She said the FSA is open-minded about the content of exams, which would not necessarily have to cover the whole breadth of full independent advice. When asked if the FSA accepts that a simplified advice process will deliver good but not necessarily the best, outcomes, Nicoll said: “I have a lot of sympathy with that view but we have to decide what is meant by ’good’. I have no particular objections to that statement, however.”
Also speaking at the conference, Financial Ombudsman Service lead ombudsman Caroline Mitchell said: “Something is better than nothing as long as people understand what service they are getting. We don’t want to be seen as an obstacle. It is about looking at what is fair and reasonable in a proportionate sense.”
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