TISA calls on regulator to promote financial wellbeing
The Investing and Saving Alliance (TISA) has called on the City regulator to make financial wellbeing a secondary regulatory objective, while encouraging growth and competition in the financial services sector.
Ahead of the committee stage of the Financial Services and Markets Bill, TISA has stated that it supports the regulator’s primary objective of ensuring safe and sound firms, well-functioning markets and the protection of consumers.
However, the lobbying group added that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) should have a secondary objective of facilitating growth and competitive, while promoting financial wellness.
“The UK financial services sector needs to maintain its competitiveness among growing international competition and a tough macroeconomic backdrop,” said Prakash Chandramohan, strategic director at TISA.
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“That much is clear, and we support government efforts to include this as a secondary objective for the FCA.
“But it cannot come at the price of watering down initiatives focused on improving the financial wellbeing of UK households. This is why TISA, as a consumer-focused financial services membership body, is calling for the inclusion of promoting the financial wellbeing of UK households alongside competitiveness as secondary objective for the regulators.”
The FCA currently runs several initiatives linked to promoting financial wellbeing. For example, the FCA’s InvestSmart consumer campaign is targeted at individuals investing in high-risk investments, to promote better awareness of the risks.
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TISA said that it is vital that the FCA continues its focus on initiatives that promote financial wellbeing and that it does not water down its interventions because of the additional secondary objective of facilitating growth and competitiveness.
“UK consumers are facing difficult economic conditions up ahead, and it is clear that industry, regulators and government will need to align to provide the strongest possible support for the public to face down these challenges,” added Chandramohan.
“We therefore strongly believe this proposal for a secondary objective achieves the right balance between the competitiveness objective and promoting the financial wellbeing of UK households.”
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