Platform rebate retreat is a welcome tweak to a flawed policy

Dan, I don't disagree with you often, but the fact of a bit of a movement from the FSA (welcome) is more than undone by the detail of that movement (lunacy). How many clients will be getting some rebates in units, some in cash, with a crazily low arbitrary break point? Lots I bet. This ban exists to stop advisers monkeying around and hiding their charges inside the rebates. No adviser is going to be doing that for amounts less than, say, £100, and certainly not for less than the £10 suggested by TISA. The whole thing is nuts.

But isn't it equally ridiculous that platforms would be handing over tiny amounts in units under the untweaked plans? This is definitely a messy compromise, I agree. Cash rebates shouldn't have been banned in the first place - the problem of advisers monkeying around was never as great as the FSA pretended (and certainly not big enough to warrant the ban). Given that policy was never going to be rescinded, the fact it looks likely some concessions will be made is welcome. I guess my argument is that the messy compromise the FSA is proposing is slightly better than the messy result of the original plans.

I ain't got a clue what's going on here. Anyone explain to me in V simple terms, so I and my clients have a chance of understanding it all??

Dan Rear - nope. That's kind of the problem.

Dan G - they will be doing tiny amounts under the tweaked plans. Not much difference between 99 pennies and 101 pennies of rebate. I'm just not sure that this is better; certainly harder to navigate for clients.

I think it needs to be all or nothing both in terms of giving clarity to the market and giving the back office teams a fighting chance to deliver something.

All these compromises just heap more costs on the support infrastructure and, guess what, that all has to be paid for by someone.