The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has plans to follow its long-awaited report into failures at the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) with a report into the near-collapse of HBOS. Failures at HBOS have so far resulted in an FSA enforcement investigation which is on going. However, in a recent letter to Andrew Tyrie MP, chairman [...]
The Commons Treasury Committee is calling on the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to delay the introduction of new rules on the provision of financial advice, for 12 months. MPs want to allow advisers more time to comply with the the Retail Distribution Review (RDR), despite backing plans to ban commission on advised sales and impose [...]
London Stock Exchange (LSE) has announced that its transaction reporting service, UnaVista, is now approved to report all exchange traded derivatives using the Alternative Instrument Identifier (Aii). The announcement follows the Financial Services Authority’s (FSA’s) deadline of 13th November 2011 for mandatory reporting of exchange traded derivatives, using Aii. UnaVista clients will be able to [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) would appear to have extended the scope of its investigations into the near collapse of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). According to a report in The Guardian, the regulator is including the group’s acquisition in 2004 of US bank, Charter One, in its long-awaited report. RBS’s aggressive expansion strategy in [...]
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) paid out £535 million in compensation in 2010/11 and delivered faster payouts to depositors, according to its annual report. During the period, the Scheme received around 39,500 new claims, an increase of 25% on the previous 12 month period, while total enquiries rose 75% to 167,600. The body resolved [...]
The Financial Services Authority has been asked to ensure that banks’ liquidity management takes proper account of any maturity mismatches associated with using exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as sources of funding, a senior Bank of England official has revealed. Addressing the British Bankers’ Association conference yesterday, the Bank’s deputy governor financial stability, Paul Tucker, said the [...]
Sovereign and banking sector strains in some euro-area economies pose “the most material and immediate threat to UK financial stability”, according to the Minutes of the 16th June interim meeting of the Financial Policy Committee (FPC), published today. The Committee therefore wants the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to ensure that improved disclosure of sovereign and [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is struggling with its Mortgage Market Review (MMR). Addressing the FSA’s annual public meeting yesterday, the regulator’s chairman, Lord Turner, argued that intervening in defence of consumer interest involves “crucial trade-off choices”. Illustrating the dilemma, he stated: “If you knew in advance that mortgage lending to a customer group with [...]
HSBC and other depositories have agreed with the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to set up a £54 million package for investors in the CF Arch cru Investment Funds and the CF Arch cru Diversified Funds. Dealings in the funds were suspended on 13th March 2009 on grounds of insufficient liquidity and agreement has now been [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has secured a court order placing Southsea Mortgage and Investment Company into the Bank Insolvency Procedure. BDO LLP has been appointed as liquidator. According to the FSA, Southsea was a small bank with a portfolio of lending funding housing developments in the local area. Eligible depositors with balances up to [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) says it has identified “widespread failings” in the wealth management industry, following a review. For example, in its scrutiny of 16 wealth management firms, the FSA found: An absence of basic know-your-customer (KYC) information; Out-of-date KYC information; Inadequate risk-profiling; Some firms not implementing MiFID client classification requirements; Lack of recorded [...]
