So here we are. Two full weeks into the blissful Conservative Lib-Dem coalition government honeymoon period. Amongst the 22 new Bills which the new coalition government hopes to successfully introduce over the next 18 months is the Financial Reform Bill. As the Monarch so eloquently announced on Monday, “this Legislation will reform the framework for financial services regulation to learn from the financial crisis".

The Platform and Wrap debate has started to become complicated for all the participants involved. Wraps don’t know if they need to become more platform like, platforms think they need to become more Wrap like, CRM systems could become the Wrap of Wraps and pure fund supermarkets are wondering what to do next.

A couple of weeks ago I summarised the parts of the Retail Distribution Review Policy Statement PS10/06 which related to the area of remuneration. This time I want to present summary details on describing and disclosing advice services:

I considered in my previous blog how our focus on technical learning, education and ultimately in professional qualifications has so far been centred on how risks affect micro investment decisions by consumers. This week, I am looking at the case for extending technical education and compulsory professional qualifications for those involved in assessing risk either relating to funds, financial institutions, a wide variety of asset types or products – in particular derivatives.