Financial services

Hector Sants, chief executive of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), has apologised to MPs for the failure of the Royal Bank of Scotland which led to the multi-billion pound bailout of the bank.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has unveiled plans to introduce a tax on financial transactions.

Here's a New Year puzzle for you. Fund A has annual charges of 1.5%, and in addition incurs annual trading costs in its portfolio of 0.2%. Fund B also has charges of 1.5% a year, but its trading costs are 0.4% a year. Which is better value for money?...

Investors cannot be counted on to make rational choices so regulators need to "step into their footprints" and limit or ban the sale of potentially harmful products, the head of the UK's new consumer protection watchdog said.

The FSA has launched a consultation on regulations for hedge funds and private equity firms that will form the basis for tough new rules on pay.

Charles Stanley's third quarter revenues dropped for the three months to 31 December 2011 to £27.3m, from £32.2m during the same period the previous year, as trading conditions remain tough.

A blanket ban on traded life policy (TLP) investments would amount to "overkill" and could hamper the UK's ability to compete in global markets, according to SL Investment Management (SL).

Carmignac's chairman Edouard Carmignac has warned economic growth could weaken as a direct result of the financial transactions tax if it is given the go-ahead.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) should as a matter of urgency retract its references to traded life policies (TLPs) as "toxic", said EEA Fund Management.

FSA rules around legacy assets are "unclear" and "incomplete" and could result in less transparency for consumers, according to the Investment Management Association (IMA).