Nick Baxter is an Independent Retail Banking Consultant (focusing on credit risk, compliance and consumer products)”; he has an intimate understanding of financial law and compliance. He was a member of the Mortgage Code Compliance Board (MCCB) Advisory Group and its disciplinary Committee up until the FSA took over in 2004. Nick has also given advice to European Commissioners, lenders, trade associations and consumer groups, in Brussels on the European code of lending practice.
Natalie Ceeney, chief ombudsman at the Financial Ombudsman Service [FOS], was recently reported as suggesting that complaints about the mis-selling of insurance on loans and mortgages may have peaked. The suggestion comes on the back of a reduction in complaints Read more…
The Financial Conduct Authority [FCA] has released a report following its thematic review of Payment Protection Insurance [PPI] complaint handling by medium-sized firms; which covers smaller high street banks, building societies, credit card providers and personal loan companies. There should Read more…
The Financial Ombudsman Service [FOS] September 2013 news bulletin focuses on issues surrounding packaged bank account products and it is right to do so. There are those who dismiss the consumer detriment caused by such products. Generally they come to Read more…
The Financial Conduct Authority [FCA] has fined AXA Wealth Services Ltd [AXA] £1.8m (which would have been £2.5m if AXA had not qualified for a 30% early settlement discount) for failing to ensure it gave suitable investment advice to its Read more…
The financial trade press is swamped with the reporting of comments made by Jonathan Evans (chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on financial services and insurance) in respect of the regulation of Claims Management Companies [CMCs]. Evans is quoted Read more…
One has come to expect a significant increase in the volume of column inches in the national media devoted to financial product mis-selling after the release of the Financial Ombudsman Service [FOS] six-monthly complaint data, but the articles appear to Read more…
Those involved in the mortgage market should not need reminding of the corner stone principles of statutory regulation which have served the industry well since the end of voluntary regulation over a decade ago. These principles are that regulated firms Read more…
Consumers and consumer groups are rightly asking “Is there no end to bank mis-selling?” What has prompted the most recent round in bank criticism? Answer: the long awaited compensation proposals from the Financial Conduct Authority [FCA] on the mis-selling of Read more…
It was thought by some that when the Financial Service Compensation Scheme [FSCS] lost a judicial review in the Court of Appeal in June [Neutral Citation Number: [2013] EWCA Civ 729] that the implications would be minimal.The action was brought Read more…
The recent comments made by Natalie Ceeney, Financial Ombudsman Service [FOS] chief executive, during a Money Marketing interview has certainly motivated many financial advisers to make critical comments on financial adviser forums.The thrust of Ms Ceeney’s comments suggested that if Read more…
The campaign to reopen rejected Payment Protection Insurance claims looks more likely than ever to succeed as the weight of evidence identifies that many claims were not dealt with appropriately the first time round. The potential consumer detriment is so Read more…
I read the Lloyds TSB news release in respect of its 2013 half year results with great interest; yes all 159 pages! Clearly everyone at Lloyds TSB should be congratulated on the return to statutory profit. As the media are Read more…
In a recent Reuters interview Natalie Ceeney, the Chief Ombudsman at the Financial Ombudsman Service [FOS], confirmed that FOS is now receiving 2,000 new cases every working day compared with 3,000 at its peak six months ago. However, Ceeney was Read more…
Earlier this month, the Financial Conduct Authority [FCA] released the Financial Services Authority [FSA] final annual report. As one would expect, it gives a fascinating insight into the year leading up to its abolition in April 2013. What alarms me Read more…
Swinton Group Limited (Swinton), one of the UK’s largest insurance retailers, has been fined £7.38 million by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) after it was found to have used aggressive telephone sales strategies and, therefore, failed to treat customers fairly. Read more…
The most recent annual report from Financial Services Compensation Scheme [FSCS] shows that the level of complaints received and compensation paid were slightly lower when compared to the previous year, but the levels are still too high and continue to Read more…
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme [FSCS] has issued a consultation paper [3 July 2013] on how it should be funded and it has already been suggested that advisers could face higher FSCS levies if the proposed funding model is approved. Read more…
A number of online blogs and articles, including one in The Law Society Gazette, are reporting that the Chief Executive of the Law Society [Desmond Hudson] has publicly called on claims management companies [CMCs] to be outlawed. Putting the comment Read more…
The final part of the three part series called “Bankers”, which aired on BBC 2 on 22 May 2013, painted a damning picture of the last generation of bankers. A long list of leaders from the current generation lined up Read more…
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has sent out a warning shot to all regulated firms with regard as to how they handle complaints and how they identify and correct the root causes of reoccurring issues. The warning shot came by Read more…
High profile SIPPs case just the tip of the iceberg
Could mis-selling annuities be a bigger scandal than PPI?
Banks Still Breaking PPI RulesThe members of the Professional Financial Claims Association wish to set professional standards for member firms...
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