FCA splits advice from guidance in new complaints rules

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has for the first time distinguished between advice and guidance in the way it records complaints, in new rules out today.

The regulator split the categories with which it captures and files its complaints data from 'misleading advice/guidance', 'arranging', and 'inappropriate sales technique' to 'unsuitable advice' and 'unclear guidance/arrangement'. This means it will have a clearer idea of how many complaints were made specifically about financial advice, and how many were about guidance, the regulator said in a statement on 23 July. The changes followed a thematic review of how firms handle complaints which, though identifying good practices, also found a number of problems. It identified inconsist...