FCA

The FCA’s proposed Consumer Duty is welcomed by ShareSoc – Radical change is needed

ShareSoc has delivered an 8 page response to the FCA's consultation: A new Consumer Duty : FCA Consultation Paper CP21/13. We made the following key points: We welcome the proposed new Consumer Duty, which will set clearer and higher standards. For too long, retail consumers of financial products and services have been treated unfairly. Too often, the financial services industry has exploited weaknesses in the financial education, knowledge and behavioural biases of customers to charge excessive fees and deliver unsuitable products. We find it disappointing ...

FCA Primary Markets Effectiveness Review – would you like to contribute?

ShareSoc Blog by Cliff Weight, Director (Pronouns: He/his/his).   Please note these are my personal views and not necessarily those of ShareSoc. I have received the request below about a subject dear to my heart and hopefully of other members. If you are willing and wanting to contribute please contact us with your name and contact details and I will organise a meeting with the FCA about this. It is good news that the FCA is reaching out in this way to seek ...

FCA, AFMs, ACDs, High fees for inappropriate products, Closet indexers

By Cliff Weight, Director, ShareSoc. These are my personal views and do not necessarily reflect the views of ShareSoc. The FCA has published two reports in a week that highlight the historic failings of the fund management industry and are hugely critical. According to Wealth Manager "In a damning report, the watchdog said fund houses have failed to properly assess the value of their funds." see https://citywire.co.uk/wealth-manager/news/asset-managers-can-t-explain-why-funds-offer-value-fca-says/a1527497 It is a good report with many sensible suggestions. It should have been done 5 years ago immediately ...

ShareSoc and UKSA response to FCA Discussion Paper DP21/1 – Strengthening our financial promotion rules

ShareSoc and the UK Shareholders Association made a joint submission on the FCA Discussion Paper DP21/1 Strengthening our financial promotion rules for high-risk investments and firms approving financial promotions. In a 9 page response to the FCA, we noted: ShareSoc and UKSA represent the views of individual investors (aka retail investors). We have combined over 8,000 members. This is an important discussion paper and we welcome the chance to submit our views. We would be happy to meet to give further background. We think there ...

ShareSoc & UKSA response to FCA Consultation CP21/12 = Proposals should be scrapped!

ShareSoc and the UK Shareholders Association made a joint submission on the FCA Consultation FCA CP21/12: A new authorised fund regime for investing in long term assets. In a 12 page response to the FCA consultation, we concluded the idea of LTAFS was ill-founded and these proposals should be consigned to the scrap heap. We also said that no new type of fund should be contemplated until the FCA had reported on its Woodford investigation. Our full consultation response is here: FCA Consultation Paper LTAF ...

FT, 4 March 2021
Private investors lose out in corporate bids

A ShareSoc news item by Cliff Weight, Director Private investors lose out in corporate bids- Takeover Panel must change rules to compel companies to disclose acquisition approaches sooner ShareSoc Patron Lord Lee is campaigning for better disclosure in relation to takeover bids and has written this excellent detailed article in the Financial Times. There have been a number of occasions when individual investors have lost money by buying or selling shares when they were not privy to information which arguably should have been disclosed to ...

House of Commons Treasury Committee
Future of Financial Services Enquiry
Consultation Response

A ShareSoc news item by ShareSoc Director Cliff Weight ShareSoc and UKSA submitted a joint response on 19th February 2021. In summary we said: A long history of regulatory failures demonstrates serious deficiencies in the way financial services are currently regulated. The UK’s departure from the EU means that the UK can now set its own financial services rules, untrammelled by the views of 27 other countries. We believe that major changes are required, particularly in the following areas: Making the best ...

HM Treasury Financial Services
Future Regulatory Framework Review
Phase II Consultation Response

A ShareSoc news item by ShareSoc Director Cliff Weight The fundamentals of financial regulation are under question Recent regulatory failures (for example Woodford, the mis-selling of mini-bonds peddled by London & Capital Finance, Wellesley, and the failure to protect pensioners being pressured by advice on pension transfers from commissioned agents) have forced a welcome review of current practice. ShareSoc and UKSA are responding to make sure the interests of ordinary savers and investors are properly safeguarded. Two separate consultations are in progress, for HM ...

Investors Chronicle, 23 Feb 2021, Platform services creak with customer surge

https://www.investorschronicle.co.uk/news/2021/02/22/platform-service-creaks-with-customer-surge/ Investors Chronicle wrote up the chronic service problems of the platforms and included this quote from Cliff Weight of ShareSoc: Cliff Weight, director of individual investors campaigning group ShareSoc, said “Hargreaves Lansdown’s customers having to wait 34 minutes to talk to someone is awful and should be unacceptable. The Financial Conduct Authority and the Competition and Markets Authority looked at platforms a couple of years ago, but seemed to have allowed high cost, poor service, quasi-monopolistic behaviour to continue. They need ...

Woodford says “I’m sorry” – I don’t accept apology. WoodfordPayBack time is here.

The Sunday Telegraph has run a puff piece of PR for Neil Woodford in which he says, “I am sorry”. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/02/13/exclusive-neil-woodford-launch-comeback-fund-says-sorry-did/ Well, I am sorry too. I don’t accept Neil Woodford’s apology. WoodfordPayBack time is here. Woodford says that Link were wrong to close his fund, which led to a fire sale of many of his investments. I do at least agree with him on this. It is a scandal that events occurred so that shares in illiquid assets had to be sold at ...