Curing the financial services industry means rebuilding trust

Financial services is a sick industry. The symptoms are many and the cure is clear, although challen...

Financial services is a sick industry. The symptoms are many and the cure is clear, although challenging to achieve. The symptoms read like a litany of bad practice: mis-selling of pensions and endowments, failed promises on products such as precipice bonds, the so-called 'Magic Circle' of investment trusts, excessive corporate pay, a lack of transparency and high charges. Add in poor-performing stock markets and it is no surprise there is a perceived lack of trust in the industry from consumers, regulators and Government. Rebuilding that trust is a difficult challenge and one that, fra...