Martin Wheatley, head of the UK’s new consumer protection watchdog, has major concerns about the current quality of bank advice. He believes that investors cannot be counted on to make rational choices, and that regulators need to step up in order to protect them.
For example, regulators need to “step into their footprints” and limit or ban the sale of potentially harmful products. In a recent case concerning HSBC, wherein five year investment bonds were being sold to ill and elderly customers, close monitoring could have prevented the sales from occurring, and in turn, prevented the resulting scandal altogether.
The FCA, headed by Wheatley, hopes to revamp financial regulation and be more aggressive in their efforts to police markets and protect investors.
Read the first big interview with Martin Wheatley to find out more about the concerns and plans of the FCA.