Member Article

Active calls for action at the Financial Conduct Authority

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) must do more to protect consumers and give them choice, according to Karl Pemberton, managing director at Active Chartered Financial Planners.

In a letter sent to the Chair of the Treasury Committee, Active’s managing director Karl Pemberton identified five issues of FCA business that need immediate consideration, including:

• the impact caused to financial firms by the sharp increases in fees imposed by the FCA;
• the need for future fee increases to be capped;
• the case for stronger controls to keep disgraced financial advisors away from the market;
• opportunities to strengthen the FCA whistleblowing policy; and
• more protections for customers when the control of their funds has been transferred to a new company.

Active is based in Thornaby in Stockton on Tees. The firm looks after the wealth of approximately 3,000 clients and employs 25 local staff. This year MD Karl Pemberton has been vocal on the subject of FCA fee increases, saying: “Our fees to the FCA rose by 70% this year, which was an unprecedented and damaging level of increase.

“We must avoid a repeat of this next year and the opportunity is there for the industry and regulators to agree a better settlement, and to tackle related issues, such as enhanced support for advisors that need to blow the whistle on bad and unethical practice.

“Without a stable and sustainable market, consumers will be more vulnerable to scams and more likely to fall victim to those who give our industry a bad name.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by News Gathering .