09 Jun FSA Asked to Provide More Information of the Cost of RDR Non-Compliance

The FSA has received requests from a number of financial firms to better outline the incentives it will create to encourage them to comply with the proposed retail distribution review (RDR). Currently some financial services firms claim to be in a state of some confusion in regards that what punishments they could potentially face for non-compliance with the RDR and have asked for clearer guidelines to ensure this level of confusion doesn't grow. One such consultant, Jonathan Chocqueel-Mangan, recently commented about his concerns in the Financial Times. Mr Chocqueel-Mangan, who works at the London based consultancy Tyler Mangan states that firms are having to look towards international examples to find out what the implications of non-compliance would be. He commented "It is interesting what is going on in New Zealand and we are yet to see what approach the FSA will take. Some firms may look and ask if there is a real competitive advantage. "They are trying to figure out how much they need to comply with and what the implications are. We know that for all regulation conducted in the past, organisations have always asked what the cost was. "There is an argument that the rules will usher in better business practice, while another argument is the high cost of doing it all." " A firm may think it will incur a fine if they are not ready from day one, but they are not clear if that will happen. What is the real evidence that the FSA will stop them operating?"