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We urge anyone who believes regulation is not fit for purpose to get involved so if you are regulated by the FSA we need to get together and sort them out. Join us today application form bank mandate .

Coming soon Financial Services Defence Union at www.fs-du.co.uk

Judge declares FOS case fee rule 'unfair in principle and in practice' HERE

Submission to House of Lords Select Committee on Regulators - Call for evidence - UK Economic Regulators (Copyright)

Their report is HERE

FOI0002 ICO Decision notice HERE The FSA tried to use Articles 6 and 8 of the ECHR to defend the life offices, what a cheek! And where is the evidence that they ALL put things as they should be?

 

STRAIGHT and CroOKed THINKING

-----Original Message-----

From: Simon Mansell

Sent: 02 August 2007 12:45

To:

Subject: Looks like the FSA has been caught out

 

FSA Dan Waters doesn't like pressure from Brussels! CLICK HERE

IFA's don't like the threat of annihilation at the hands of the FSA RDR!

But the real issue could be that the EU is the boss and says that RDR does not apply to MIFID advisers!

Here is what the EU said to me CLICK HERE. Judge for yourself - seems to contradict what the FSA is telling everyone! No wonder they are upset they have been caught with their regulatory pants down.

Here is the MM article that is published today - watch this space because its got the FSA back up!

 

"Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes?",

 

Who guards the guards? Satire VI

 

Who regulates the regulators

 

Best regards

 

Simon Mansell

 

 

 

...The word is independence. There are many definitions but let's take a look at three:

1. Not influenced or controlled by others in matters of opinion, conduct, etc.; thinking or acting for oneself: an independent thinker.

2. Not subject to another's authority or jurisdiction; autonomous; free: an independent businessman.

3. Expressive of a spirit of independence; self-confident; unconstrained: a free and independent citizen.

Long live IFAs whatever method of payment their clients choose

missedtargetsFTAdviser.jpg (801826 bytes) 05 July 2007 (3).jpg (918362 bytes)

Evidently in response to articles including THIS ONE Sir Christopher Kelly, chairman of the Financial Ombudsman Service gave a speech at the Association of Finance Brokers (AFB) annual dinner on 2 July 2007. Our response is HERE

Please send this to your MP Click HERE NEW VERSION!

Information Commissioner Decision

Dear Mr Cresswell

Outcry over the FOS non-disclosure of evidence

BALANCE the SCALES of JUSTICE

FSA mystery (PDF)

Freedom of Information: Right to Know Request

FOI0001 Sight of Counsel's opinions on the compatibility of the FSMA 2000 with the Human Rights Act 1998. There are no favourable Counsel's opinions and according to insiders Gordon Brown couldn't be bothered to obtain one to support his certification of the FSMA Bill, that's arrogance for you. Can he be dragged before Parliament to explain why he deceived the whole House? He did the same with the Finance Bill. He should be sacked! The whole Government runs on lies and spin...

FOI0002 How many providers used 'inappropriate charges' to set premiums i.e LAUTRO 'assumed expenses'? To date we haven't found one single provider who actually used own charges to set the premium, can anyone out there put the record straight? There is a case  for providers to come clean after leaving IFAs (and PI insurers) in the lurch. Every single life office  product sold between April 1988 and January 1995 was misrepresented. ICO Decision notice HERE

FOI0003 How many IFAs were found to be fully compliant after visits from FSA pension review teams? If the FSA visited 600 firms out of 20,000  to review the sale of pensions what criteria did they use? We have a number of firms who were forced to spend a fortune on reviews that proved they were in the clear.

FOI0026 Minutes of meetings and documentation relating to the imposition of new time-bars effective 1st June 2004. If this isn't in contravention of the Human Rights Act 1998 then what is? (over 3.8MB)

FOI0027 Did FSA decide that IFAs could not rely on provider literature? They say they don't have much faith in the literature providers produce. They say a lot more than that to AIFA who seem to have filed it under 'B'.

WHAT FREEDOM? 

 

ENDOWMENT QUESTIONNAIRE

Letter to ECPG and Impact of regulation on retail financial services

 

FOS IS HOUNDING THE INFIRM - UNFAIR AND UNREASONABLE

FSA has spending other's money down to a fine art

 

"Most regulators’ careers end prematurely in failure and disgrace." - HOWARD DAVIES : HENRY THORNTON LECTURE : CITY UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL : 4 NOVEMBER 1998

 

Letter from FSA regarding 15 year long stop HERE Hirst Opinion on FOS requirement to take account of what the 'former scheme' was required to do HERE

 

Open letter from Terence O'Halloran to FSA

 

FOSSY LOGIC!!   Page 1 (1MB)  Page 2  (4MB) Page 3 (1MB) Subscribe to Money Management  The original writing is HERE (HTML) or HERE (Word)

UNFAIR AND UNREASONABLE

 

Endowments meet their targets, what was all the fuss about? Reproduced with the kind permission of the Evening Standard. Copyright: Evening Standard 2006.

 

Split-cap ‘compensation’ going to those who made millions and HERE

 

LIMITATION and ANOTHER and ANOTHER (1) (2) Please take care with any opinion because that is all it is.

 

Letter to John McFall HERE - Guess what - No reply

 

I believe everything the Leviathan says HERE    PIA warned of PIA perils HERE  Robber baron HERE

 

Letter from FSA HERE confirming our worst fears, regulated persons and companies have no rights under common law. The letter is supposed to address the fears we expressed during this meeting:

 

Letter to FT

 

BACK TO THE FUTURE?

 

There may be trouble ahead......

More EMAILS

FSAGate

FOS Goes to Strasbourg

 

In The City by 'Slicker' Page 1 Page 2  Reproduced by kind permission of PRIVATE Eye/Pressdram. Copyright Pressdram 200[5] www.private-eye.co.uk

 

Email to John Tiner HERE

 

False Premises - Money Management

 

FSAGATE - 'Mystery shopping' of the regulator - IFAs need to do more of it

 

'Pensions Review' finally over? RPC newsletter HERE

 

The IFA Defence Union recommends the use of surveillance equipment when dealing with the regulators or even clients, the following story  is that of another IFA who fell under the wheels of this driverless juggernaut:

 

"Totally endorse the recording of dealings with regulators

We were terminated by FIMBRA due to false allegations by a couple of sick bully boys.

Almost by accident I had taken a micro recorder up (my sister-in-law worked for an electronics firm). I had recorded the conversation with the compliance officer at Hertsmere House.
When we played back the recording it bore no resemblance to the words we were alleged to have said and which were pivotal to the case against us.
Our Solicitor let it be known that he had seen the transcript of the tape, but no mention was made at our appeals tribunal. Our Barrister did take the compliance officers apart and showed them up for what they were..
There was an ex policemen that worked for the 2 compliance officers that had taken a statement from us, at the hearing he told the Tribunal that the written statement attributed to him and used to bury us was not made by him (he at least was being honest).

1) What would have happened if I didn't have the proof that they were lying?
2) Why did they lie in the first place?
3) Why were they not disciplined for lying? (we couldn't afford to take them to the High Court)

I am saddened by what happened, my Father thought naively that if we just told the truth we would be alright. Just as well that I am I bit more devious. I am still bitter for what they did to my Family (unable to work for 3 months young family to support and relying on state aid including milk tokens) - I wonder whether Magee-Englefield and Hamp really thought they had done a good job?

Thanks for all the support and help. (NO need to reply as you are doing a great job into the nitty gritty)

Best Wishes

Yours Sincerely"

A Member

 

Targets of 'Mystery Shopping' we carry out on a regular basis include: Ambulance Chasers, Regulators, Providers, Networks, National IFAs, some really bent IFAs and some lying 'consumers'.

 

 

Dear Mr Kenmir - Re: LAUTRO 'assumed expenses'

Dear Lord Falconer - Re: Unnatural Justice

Depolarisation - a shambles in the making

The Union is  the first port of call for advisers wherever they may be in the UK and whatever area of business they have chosen to work in. We welcome any person caught in the inhuman web of the Financial Services and Markets Act, an Act that is not compatible with the  Human Rights Act 1998 so we will be testing this soon, see THIS and send it to YOUR MP as soon as possible, after reading THIS , THIS

 

FSA staff:

  • have been caught with their pants down!

  • are wasting time and money!

  • think they are Civil Servants!

  • think they don't need qualifications to be regulators!

  • are on a mission against endowments!

 

FOS staff:

  • have no idea what documentation was presented to clients before, during and after a sale!

  • cannot tell the difference between a KFD and a Schedule!

  • expect IFAs to tell them what is within their jurisdiction even when the IFA has six months to live and retired long before N2!

  • hound IFAs for fees even though they are not due!

  • are on a mission to create fee income!

 

Blair attacks FSA - FSA attacks Blair - But ask yourself why the U turn, is it something to do with an EU Commission investigation along the lines of the detention of terror 'suspects'? Of course it is, you can't keep declaring illegal bits of legislation as being compatible with the Human Rights Act 1998 when everyone knows it isn't.

 

Important legal case HERE

 

The MENU System: SCRAP IT!   OR.. Let IFAs include the cost of regulation so that clients see the full picture

IDD = 4 pages

Key Facts = 5 pages

Terms of Business = 4 pages

Menu = 6 pages

Illustration = three pages

Post Sale Cooling Off = God knows how may pages

“This paper by its very length defends itself against the risk of being read.”

Winston Churchill

 

Tories want to charge £50 for complaining

 

Opinion of Anthony Speaight QC:

"There are growing concerns that the pendulum of consumer protection has swung too far in the case of the Financial Ombudsman Service and small independent financial advisers. The FOS appears regularly to be exercising its discretion to adjudicate upon claims against small IFAs up to its maximum theoretical jurisdiction of £100,000. There is rarely an oral hearing. And there are good reasons to believe that sometimes FOS makes substantial awards in cases which would be rejected by the courts. On other occasions compensation seems to be calculated in a more generous manner than a court would assess damages. By reason of very large excesses and other insurance shortcomings some such IFAs have no insurance which responds. There is no appeal on the merits.

 

Such a system would be tolerable if the maximum award were modest say £5,000 (which is the maximum summary compensation under the legal professions’ schemes for "inadequate professional service"). It would also be tolerable if, as is the case with the summary system of adjudication in the construction industry under the Housing Grants Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, there could be a complete rehearing before a court. And it might even be tolerable if it were applied only against very large companies

 

But an unappealable, compulsory, summary jurisdiction against small traders making awards as great as £100,000 is, in my view, both wrong in principle and producing injustice in practice."

(No providers will be hurt in the making of this movie, in fact they can join the cast.)

 

Limitation of liability

 

Responses to ABI Commission Consultation Document From REAL people to UNREAL people

Analysis: Under Review - FSA Enforcement Procedures

Leviathan at large

Leviathan still at large - Summary and  Full Letter 

FSA determined to give endowments a fair trial

Repayment mortgages NOT guaranteed to repay the loan - stunning revelation, not. And HERE and HERE

 

PENSIONS REVIEW - WHAT A FARCE!  Part 1  Part2 (.tif files)

Then what was said in Parliament

 

Re: Article in Money Marketing entitled "IFAs seek legal advice on misselling responsibility'. The quote in full was: "the IFA Defence Union has been gathering opinions from legal and actuarial experts as well as questioning the FSA. The evidence strongly suggests that IFAs have a case for misrepresentation of risk against providers with many products but accept the argument that the regulator is culpable in some areas and that the providers have a right to want to challenge it. IFAs cannot be held responsible for misrepresentations made by either party, they have been the whipping boy for far too long. If IFAs are afraid of taking on the providers they should ask themselves how much time and money they are wasting on defending claims relating to 'unsuitable advice' when the complaint is in fact about the product, the FSA have indicated that it would be appropriate to refer such complaints to the provider".

 

See: WRIT OF MANDAMUS at LoveToKnow.

 

FSA warns of high cost of small IFAs OUR RESPONSE HERE

 

What a week that was NEWS

 

Did you know? - Commission costs an average of 3% within investment business, compliance costs 9%... is the FSA adding value? Considering it costs investors three times more than the IFA distribution channel any sane person would come to the conclusion that regulatory interference is counter productive.   

 

Financial Risk Outlook 2005 - Another doorstop from the FSA with the last three pages devoted to poor old IFAs

 

Complaint to Callum McCarthy - FSA

Complaint to Walter Merricks - FOS

 

ENDOWMENTS - THE FACTS

 

Kafkaesque: adjective in the style of, or reminiscent of, the ideas, work, etc of the Czech novelist Franz Kafka (1883-1924), especially in his vision of man's isolated existence in a dehumanized world. Kafka's trial as IFA 'ostrich' fights FSA

FSA USES RESTITUTION ORDER Judge says Ombudsman acting unfairly by not telling IFA he was entitled to an independent oral hearing. Judge says roll up of pension reinstatement is 'extortion'. Judge refuses to take his home away. Judge refuses to take all his money away. Judge refuses to accede to all FSA requests. Judge refuses to  include a false date in the judgment.

 

 

Falconer call to end claims culture: A Department for Constitutional Affairs spokesman said: "This is a complex and controversial issue where the Government cannot provide all the solutions". OH YES IT CAN!! Here are the simple solutions:

  1. Follow the lead of our astute Irish neighbours who require claimants to sign an affidavit.

  2. Penalise those who tell lies.

  3. Restore some burden of proof to the complainant.

  4. Charge the complainant a fee that is refundable if successful.

  5. Regulate the 'clams handlers' - we have already reported a number of IFAs who also have an 'unregulated' arm. How they can claim to be 'unregulated' is in dispute when financial advice is being provided.

Simple solutions? Of course they are but why can't they be implemented? Why is this so painful?

Also see: Complaints and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002

 

OPINION of ANTHONY SPEAIGHT QC on FSMA 2000 and COMPATIBILITY with  ECHR (STILL VALID)

http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm199899/cmbills/121/1999121.htm
EUROPEAN CONVENTION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer has made the following statement under section 19(1)(a) of the Human Rights Act 1998: In my view the provisions of the Financial Services and Markets Bill are compatible with the Convention rights.
IMPEACH BROWN AS WELL?
www.impeachblair.org  

 

The Pensions Ombudsman and Article 6 of the European Convention on Human rights HERE If you don't have the time or the inclination to read it here is a brief synopsis : The FSMA is NOT compatible with the ECHR, we have asked for sight of opinion. Also see HERE

 

IFADU Response to  FSA Consultation Paper 04/12

Your Opportunity to respond using this document

Where to respond to

Gary Stidolph Response

Susan King Response

APCIMS N2+2

 

IMPORTANT We need to hear from advisers who made written representations to the regulators (FIMBRA, LAUTRO, SIB etc) regarding pension transfers, opt-outs and non-joiners at any time between 1988 and 1993.

 

Making a fuss about the FOS This article is published in the September 2004 issue of Money Management Magazine. To subscribe call 020 8606 7545 or visit www.FTadviser.com The only problem is a reference to primary legislation being required to amend the FSMA and rein in those empowered by it (in their own interpretation) when the fact is that the FSMA allows just one of Her Majesty's Ministers to change anything he/she wishes at any time and as often as he/she deems fit. Well that's democracy? See HERE

 

We need copies of FOS decision letters that advisers feel are incorrect so please fax them to us on 0845 4585299, we will be compiling a database that will be used to find inconsistencies. We have quite a few interesting developments on this front, more to follow.

 

FOS Jurisdiction: It has been brought to our attention that many IFAs are not aware of the full facts relating to the jurisdiction of the FOS for any complaints relating to advice provided before 1st December 2001.

 

We can provide advice :

The regulatory climate is becoming more prescriptive and the use of 100% hindsight by those in authority is causing advice to be deemed inappropriate many years after it was given in good faith, all advisers need support from:

  • Legal Experts
  • Compliance Advisers
  • PI insurance specialists

We have a list of people with experience of reversing FOS decisions and success in appeals tribunals.

 

 

Many professions have their own defence union:

Lawyers, Accountants and Doctors have a union to turn to in times of need. Now IFAs will have their very own defence union.

 

You may think IFAs have no human rights and the authorities can do whatever they like, this isn't so because many IFAs have been successfully defended in the face of incorrect and uninformed FOS decisions.

 

In the words of Tony Blair

Source:

The Hutton debate in Parliament and the following is quoted from Hansard, Columns 770 and 771 on 4 February 2004 - the words are spoken by the Prime Minister:

 

*I somehow feel that I am not being entirely persuasive in certain quarters.

We cannot have a situation in which we end up translating what we know today back into the context of what was known and thought in September 2002, and then reaching a judgment.*

 

Only the regulatory system has 100% hindsight

 

The more corrupt the State the more numerous the laws. -- Cornelius Tacitus

Click on the 'About' button to find out more and join our mailing list on the links page.

 

http://www.qualifying-recognised-overseas-pension-scheme.com/