Consumer Panel Annual Report assesses FSA's effectiveness in assisting consumers

21 June

The Consumer Panel's annual report for 2005/06 is published today. For the first time, it includes a more formal assessment of how the Consumer Panel thinks the FSA is doing in fulfilling its obligations to consumers in the way that it regulates the financial services industry.

Overall the assessment is acceptable to strong, with the FSA scoring well in having paid more attention to communicating with consumers and in being a dedicated voice for the UK consumer in discussions on European proposals to change financial services markets across Europe.

However, there are issues where the Panel would like the FSA to do more and has therefore given them a weak score. The Panel uses the annual report to re-emphasise its disappointment with FSA delay in action on the selling of self certification mortgages and generic advice and FSA decisions not to differentiate high risk funds for consumers or to remove the limits on compensation through FOS and FSCS.

The Chairman of the Financial Services Consumer Panel, John Howard said:

"We have assessed the FSA's performance from the perspective of the Consumer Panel as a more informed group of individual consumers. We recognise that the FSA has to take into account a wider range of factors than purely the consumer remit, but nevertheless we believe that this is a useful way to give an overall perspective of how well the FSA is performing for consumers. There is no area where we have scored the FSA as very weak, and believe that overall the FSA has done a reasonable job in safeguarding consumers of financial services over the past year."

Notes to editors

1. The Consumer Panel Annual Report is available here. The FSA will publish a formal response to the Consumer Panel's annual report after it publishes its annual report later on in June, on its website – www.fsa.gov.uk
   

2. The FSA established the independent Financial Services Consumer Panel in December 1998 to advise its Board on the interests and concerns of consumers and to report on the FSA’s performance in meeting its objectives. The Consumer Panel has statutory status.

3. The emphasis of the Panel’s work is on activities that are regulated by the FSA, although it may also look at the impact on consumers of activities outside but related to the FSA’s remit. More information about the Panel's work is available on this website.

4. The Consumer Panel brings together a wide range of relevant experience. This includes financial services regulation, working with vulnerable consumers, consumer protection, consumer education, front-line money advice, legal expertise, competition policy, public policy analysis, market research and media.

5. There are currently eleven members of the Panel as listed below (for further information on individual members, see the Panel's website).

   John Howard (Chairman)
   Adam Phillips (Vice Chairman)
   Caroline Gardner
   Harriet Hall
   Tony Hetherington
   Stephen Locke

   Nick Lord
   David Metz
   Paul Salvidge
   Robert Skinner
   Carol Stewart