Financial services

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).

Arch Financial Products is being sued for £150m by the board of 18 Guernsey-listed investment vehicles for failing to exercise fundamental care of assets and to account for "substantial secret profits", according to reports.

The Prime Minister David Cameron has rejected calls from an MP for an independent inquiry into the Arch cru investment funds scandal.

The Treasury Select Committee (TSC) today highlights the FSA's swift dismissal last year of a proposal to delay the introduction of RDR as evidence of accountability and culture failings at the regulator, and said the same problems must not "plague" its...