Latest - REGULATION / COMPLIANCE

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  STAR Steering Group commits to ‘galvanise the industry’ on pensions and investments transfers

  17 June 2019

  STAR, the industry initiative to improve outcomes for individuals wanting to transfer their assets, such as pensions and investments, held its inaugural Steering Group meeting, including 30 funding members and the FCA, and said it is determined to galvanise the industry into signing to the initiative, ahead of the next FCA platforms paper which...

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  FCA figures illustrate costs discrepancy between small and scaled up adviser firms

  16 June 2019

  Latest FCA figures show that smaller financial advice firms are contending with higher insurance premiums than their bigger counterparts. This illustrates the growing need for firms to scale up, suggests Canada Life.  According to the FCA figures, firms with less than £100,000 in revenues tend to spend 4% of their revenues on insurance, a figure...

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  What does the FCA’s Thematic Review on with-profits tell us?

  2 June 2019

  Guy Vanner, managing director, AKG, reviews the FCA’s recent paper on the fair treatment of with profits customers and looks at some of the implications. On 25 April the FCA published its long-awaited Thematic Review (TR19/3) of the Fair Treatment of With Profits Customers. It was the first Thematic Review of the with profits...

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  TDQ: Test Your Knowledge – Answers

  30 May 2019

  As part of our Training, Development and Qualifications (TDQ) series, Professional Paraplanner has teamed up with key training and exam support providers to help you to, amongst other things, revise for your qualifications. Below you will find also the cross-references for the 10 questions in this month’s TDQ: Test Your Knowledge, which we posed...

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  TDQ: Test Your Knowledge – Questions

  30 May 2019

  For Professional Paraplanner’s TDQ (Training, Development and Qualifications) series, we have teamed up with key support providers, such as Brand Financial Training, to provide our readers with the very best in training, development and exam support. This series aims to provide you with valuable advice and guidance materials to help you achieve your training...

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  600 firms committed to PFS DB Pension Transfer good practice standards

  30 May 2019

  More than 600 firms have signed up to the new Pension Transfer Gold Standard for good practice standards in managing Defined Benefit transfers. Launched on 9 April by the Pensions Advice Taskforce, the Gold Standard centres around a consumer guide designed to help the public better understand what to expect from a regulated financial...

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  O&M Systems automates DB transfers checklist

  27 May 2019

  Software provider O&M Systems has automated its defined benefit transfers checklist functionality in line with FCA rules. To complement its TVC and APTA functionality, O&M has made it possible to print FCA rules COBS 19 Annex 4A, 4B and 4C from its systems, which were introduced by the regulator last October. O&M said the...

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  Platform switching constrained by complexity and cost

  9 May 2019

  Over half of advisers are avoiding switching clients to a different platform because of the administrative complexity and cost involved.  A new report by the lang cat and AJ Bell found 56% of advisers felt constrained from recommending a transfer, despite the fact it could benefit clients. The research, which surveyed 95 adviser firms, showed...

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