17 June 2010
APCIMS responds to Chancellor’s Mansion House speech
APCIMS welcomes the Government’s clarification of the UK's future regulatory structure and of the timetable in which it is to be achieved. It is appropriate to bring market regulation and consumer protection together in a single agency since that will reduce the numbers of different regulators that investment firms will have to deal with and bring consistency to regulating the retail market in stocks, shares and bonds on the one hand and the marketing and selling of packaged retail investment products on the other.
It will be important for the approach of the new Authority to recognise the diversity of the UK financial markets and deliver regulation that is proportionate, tailored and appropriate to the widely-divergent business models of the different types of firms that it regulates. The success or failure of the future system in both prudential and conduct of business regulation will in part be measured by the degree to which it can escape from the one-size-fits-all mentality that has so bedeviled the FSA's régime.
APCIMS' Chief Executive David Bennett said:
"We are glad uncertainty surrounding the new Government's intentions with regard to the future of financial services regulation in the UK has been dispelled. We believe that the twin-peaks approach embodied in the proposals is right to bring consumer protection and market regulation together in a single Authority and to place macro and micro-prudential regulation together under the auspices of an enhanced Central Bank.”
Ends
For more information please contact:
David Bennett
Chief Executive, APCIMS
on 020 7448 7100 or Mobile: 0798 3543529
Email: davidb@apcims.co.uk
Note for editors:
The Association of Private Client Investment Managers and Stockbrokers (APCIMS) represents firms acting on behalf of investors. Member firms deal primarily in stocks and shares as well as other financial instruments for individuals, trusts and charities and offer a range of services from execution only trading (no advice) through to full portfolio management.
Our member firms operate on more than 500 sites in the UK, Ireland, Isle of Man and Channel Islands, employing 25,000 regulated staff. Around £335 billion of the country’s wealth is under the management of our members. Our aim is to ensure that the regulatory, tax and other changes across Europe are appropriate and proportionate for the investment community.