FCA: Retirement reforms make protection role greater

The sweeping reforms to pensions introduced in the Budget have increased the need for regulators to protect consumers, the chairman of the FCA has said. John-Griffith Jones, told an event at the CASS Business School in London, that a competent regulator is even more important in the light of such radical changes.In a speech entitled 'regulation in a recovery', he said: "The need for consumer protection has if anything increased rather than diminished, particularly with the proposed changes to the pensions regime. {desktop}{/desktop}{mobile}{/mobile} "The inevitable complexity of some long-term financial decisions, the asymmetry of knowledge between producer and consumer, and the unfortunate history of products coming to market designed to benefit the industry rather than the public, demonstrate beyond all reasonable doubt the continuing need for an effective conduct regulator."He suggested the financial services industry must be careful not to be complacent about regulatory matters.He said: "Experience has taught me to be wary of the phrase 'this time it will be different'. If history has taught us anything, it is that we are destined to repeat the mistakes of the past, once we have lulled ourselves into believing that a problem has been definitively resolved."This is particularly true in financial matters, where lessons learned from downturns, especially where people lose money, have the habit of being forgotten in the subsequent upturn. Nothing creates memories better than disaster, and nothing blurs them better than success."He declared that a preventative strategy is the future direction for regulators and insisted in can be achieved.He said: "We have learned the hard way that regulation by waiting for things to go wrong and only then attempting to clear up the mess is both low 'value added' and very unsatisfactory to the general public."It leads to the regulator being held in low regard, which in turn makes it more difficult for us to be effective in the future."The lesson has been taken on board."

FCA: Retirement reforms make protection role greater

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