Cummings: FSCS acted within its mandate; Davy reiterates support for Aifa

Those who own unauthorised firms can afford to support a court case because they will not pay FSCS costs to defend it.

What is needed here is an immediate review of the FSCS, a spokesman implied that an official review is in place, we can't find it, can you?

Come on Hector, let's get this sorted before you go.

...there are a number of comments in this piece which are not based on fact.

The FSCS is not immune from ANY prosecution, nor are the FSA or the FOS.

The FSA did not 'classify' KIS in a way which would impact upon the FSCS decision.

In our book "Speaking to a lawyer" does not constiute taking legal advice and we all assumed AIFA had obtained an opinion which apparently concurred with the FSCS opinion, if there is one.

We get the impression that a deal was done because 'the fund managers didn't want to know' and squabbling about who pays what would damage the reputation of IFAs in general.

New heights of shambolic inability of IFAs to act as one are reached each day.

It was unless I am mistaken the FSA that classified what type of adviser Keydata was and not the FSCS and as the artcile rightly pointed out both the FSA and FSCS are currently above the law and that is what we need to change.

When any authority of body cannot be challenged in law then justice is no longer served and becomes worthless and that is what we seem we have here.

Democracy and Justice is what I thought the UK was buitl on but sadly those foundations are slowly being eroded and we need to get them back again and right now as the longer this goes on the harder it will be to build then up again..

Given the IFA defence unions comments can they please explain how we can challenge the FSA in law then?

I know this is going to sound extremely snotty, but it isn’t meant to – it is meant to factually highlight some inalienable truths.

More than many other occupations Financial Advice are a very cerebral vocation. As such it is not at all surprising that IFAs often do not speak with one voice. Firstly any problem has myriad nuances which different people will interpret in different ways – that does not mean that one interpretation is automatically right and the others wrong.

The other point is that some people are better equipped tom deal with complex matters than others.

What seems evident in the case is that the route of Judicial Review for the FSCS in regard to this particular point is money down the drain.

Of course people are upset, the position is manifestly unjust, but this line of attack isn’t going to work. The trick is to find another way.

Perhaps an examination of the haws and wherefores concerning the FSA’s decisions to place firms in certain categories could certainly do with some inspection. As I understand it Key Data was grandfathered in this category and the Regulator didn’t bother to carry out its own due diligence to see if the categorisation was justified.

Also at the risk of sounding like a stuck record – what about the clients? We pay a levy and they don’t get paid. What is the administrator doing – apart making a fortune for himself? There are assets – why not at least then distribute something? Why are we all being kept in the dark? Why have some been paid out but not the vast bulk of others? Is this a way to engender public confidence? Is this not a whole lot worse than IFAs squabbling amongst themselves regarding who should pay what?

How many other unfair levies are the IFA community going to have to bare? Laying down and accepting this is surely opening the gates of blame for anything that the FSCS and FSA care to throw at us. There may be a lot of large firms that can absorb these kind of penalties but a lot of sole trading IFAs, with small customer bases are seeing a sizable chunk of their monthly income being stripped from them without right of appeal. It will be interesting to see how many good people nearing retirement exit the industry on the back of these heavy handed measures.

I fail to see why any self respecting sole trader IFA would want to stay in business. The business model does ot work. Even if you are lucky enough to stumble on a gravy train there will always be something that will come back and bite you, and let's not forget the long hours we have to work. II have done this job every which way for the last 24 years and am happy to have applied to give up my permissions. I was brought up to believe that everyone I provided a service to was my customer and that included in house personnel I had to deal with. Is it unfair to expect a bit of TCF from the FSA?

I was told that their request for my FSCS levy was unfair when I appealed against it. It seems to me that the paper exercise we go through with our six monthly returns is just that as the fees were based on a forecast in 2007 and not the abismal reality that ensued devastating most small firms such as mine. Their clear understanding of the unfairness is demonstrated by their automatic inclusion of the Premium Credit Agreement put out with invoices; they know we actually know how hard up we are and how unfair it all is!

Reading through the various postings so authoritively put, my only advice is do something else! Take the risk out of your business by joining a firm that will give you support and enable you to work effectively and even if you have to give up on this ideal of being independent - the client does not care and will be comforted to know someone else is taking care of what you can recommend - they aren't daft!

Katy Bee

I agree with you. Now after over 25 years of keeping my head down and getting on with looking after my clients.

The thought of going to Loch Lubnig with a bottle of pills and watching the sunset for one last time gets more and more appealing. Especially as the weather to night should produce a good sunset.

Glad I took my own advice last night.

Cycled up and back to Loch Lubnaig and enjoyed a small bottle of Holsten pills at the waterside while watching the swallows swoop over the surface of the loch.

Now remember why last autumn vowed not to do it again my Back is giving me jip this morning. Definately the last time I do the round trip.

The sunset did not materialize though well you win some lose some. But But on arrival home in the driveway our bats were back showing us the airial acrobatics that keep us spellbound. Nice to see they survived the winter.

Unlike those poor Nato personel in Kabul yesterday.

Puts it into perspective the alphabet soup fiefdoms of the FSCS, FIFA, FA, IOC they really dont matter in the whole scheme of things

I will continue health permitting to adfvise my clients correctly and thank my lucky strars that I live in the UK.