McAteer points to crucial role of MAS
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The level of regulatory intervention required by the Financial Conduct Authority will depend on how successful the Money Advice Service is in boosting financial capability, according to FSA non-executive board member Mick McAteer.
Speaking at an FSA conference on the FCA last week, McAteer, who is also founder and director of the not-for-profit organisation The Financial Inclusion Centre, said: “There are a number of issues on how the FCA engages with the other parts of the regulatory structure, such as the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Policy Committee but also the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Money Advice Service.
“We have got to build a new regulatory model that allows the FCA to build on the lessons on financial capability and feed that back into the policymaking process. The need for intervention from the FCA will depend on how successful the MAS is in raising standards on financial capability.”
McAteer also called for the new regulatory structure to take into account those consumers for whom financial advice is not commercially viable, and said it is the Government’s job to come up with alternative solutions to cater to those people.
FSA interim managing director of the conduct business unit Margaret Cole said: “The FCA will work closely with the FOS, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and the MAS. The MAS has an important role to play, and the FCA will work with it so that consumers are better equipped to take sound financial decisions.”
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Readers' comments (1)
Julian Stevens | 8 Jul 2011 5:46 pm
McAteer also............. said it is the Government’s job to come up with alternative solutions to cater to those people [who are not commercially viable propositions for advisers].
Such as? A government sponsored and run life insurance and savings company?
I might add also that it's the government's job to fund the MAS which, as I understand it, is there to help people who may be fearful of the cost of seeking private sector professional advice. Which brings us back to the root problem, namely that the FSA and all its offshoots are government bodies funded (without limit or accountability) by the private sector. How can a body whose website is fsa.GOV.uk possibly be anything other than a GOVERNMENT body? To suggest otherwise is simply LYING.
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