We quiz the FSA about the future of financial regulation

I think the biggest problem is that the consumer is not given a transcript of any phone agreements. The legal expenses insurance business should be regulated, as it is out of control. Both car insurance and legal insurance wacks up the cost of legal action and cases artificially, by charging vast legal costs to the insurance broker, who then expects the “LOSING” SIDE to pay for all the costs. If You lose you are then given a very large bill for all the time wasting argument and vexatious attitude that the solicitors of the other side made up. Why not set a stipend of expenditure on insurance backed legal proceedings to enable those of us facing the GOLIATH MUNNYMAYKING INDUSTREE AND no David in sight to help us. The FCA could stop these monstrous boundary disputes cases getting out of hand becaue the insurance company says they are “seeking to resolve the dispute quickly” but really they are trying to elongate the issues into a court case and lots of legal costs.

They also have no protection for first time buyers because if a dispute is begun by on a new owner then they cannot see the insurance claims of the previous owners who they bought from, and if they did they might see that there has already been several boundary disputes “resolved” simply because they could not fight a battle in court over a 2 inches of fences that would cost £thousands…

1 One of the FSA’s functions is the registration of mutual organisations.

2 More of these will be created by community associations performing former council functions under the ‘Big Society’ and it is important that local consumers have access to information showing how well they are using public assets transferred to them.

3 While an organisation’s accounts and filed papers are available fom the relevant registration authorities free and online from the Charities Commission if it is registered as a charity and for a nominal sum if it is a company regisitered at Companies’ House, the same information about mutals costs a minimum of £50 from the FSA and is not availablke instantly.

4 The government should require all regulators holding public information on bodies where the public has an interest to make this available online and at no more than nominal cost

Banks and Hedge Funds have been putting large amounts of money into the commodity markets. In the USA the Quantative Easing (printing e-money) has been used in that way. This is causing a bubble in the market where a bubble should not be. Can we prevent UK banks and hedge funds from distorting these markets? And work with the EEC and the US to control their domains?

Also Banks and Hedge Funds are legally avoiding UK Tax by using UK controlled tax havens. Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Gibralter, Turks and Cacos Island, British Virgin Islands and possibly other EEC controlled place such as Luxembourg and Lichtenstein. Although these places have hopme poicy rights there tax (race to the bottom) should be stopped as it has extra territorial impacts. This is removing from the UK income huge amounts. The Cuts proposed by the coalition whould be much less if these tax havens were closed. This might be too difficult, so perhaps we make UK registered companies state in their filed accounts how they use Tax Havens and the amounts of tax avoided. This would then enable UK Tax Authorities to see the amounts and check the arrangements are correct and also allow public discussion of the scale of the avoidance taking place. There is a case to say that the Corporation of London is now more influential than the EEC or the UK Government. This does not seem right.

I think it should be a lot tougher to get credit, borrow and over-draw. It’s far too easy to run up a credit card balance as the money does not debit from the account and the profits from the irresponsible are a lure for both shareholders and lenders alike. Greed and performance selling have corrupted what was once a responsible industry. I recall as a student being denied a credit card because I did not have any income (apart from a paltry grant). Nowadays someone without a job can apply and receive £3000 credit limit guaranteed credit card on the basis that their spouse has an income but without any checks to ensure that this is affordable. We know because my wife and I carried out a little experiment just to see what a “stay at home Mum” could conceivably borrow. Horrifying we think, and when we are trying to teach our children how to be responsible with small amounts of money, what a hypocracy ! Come on lenders: this is hardly responsible lending, and such practises should be immediately curtailed if the industry is to regain any credibility and respect. The French do not over-lend nor do they allow anyone to overdraw on their current accounts. Yes there is a message here.

Chris,
Thanks for your comments. However, useful as these new measures might be, there will always be an element of playing ‘catch up’ with the banks’ ‘creativity’.
What I’m more concerned about is that, years after the issue was first raised, we still haven’t put bank charges to bed. People are still being ripped off at £39.00 per ‘charge’, whilst credit card defaults attract ‘only’ £12.00 a go. Why? What is Which? doing about it? Or the OFT, who brought a deeply flawed court action against the banks, and then retired hurt?
The banksters on the other hand, are tirelessly still at it, e.g. Egg wrote to me to say that their interest rates are going up to 19.9% in September, despite the base rate being at 0.5%; etc.

We need to face their predatory activities and eliminate them as they arise, and not just leave them in limbo, so they can continue with their nefarious activities. Sort out the bank charges; suspend their Consumer Credit licenses; make directors personally liable – in other words, hit them where it really hurts. If the OFT had anything about them, they would have handed out a CCL suspennsion or two – and then watch how the miscreant’s competitive position is eroded, with the concommitant squeeze on the board of directors to get their act right.

The unfolding Murdoch saga is a case in point – challenge these bullies with will and conviction, and they’ll yield. Of course, as well as will and conviction, we need eternal vigilance.

Probably too much to ask for?!

Bring back the decent Branch Managers who knew their patch & had discretion they should direct call centres with flexibility and ethics allowing issues to be raised and resolved. When are they going to realise their security procedures are stopping money going in or coming out as many including the elderly & disabled cannot remember long strings of numbers .