How we work for consumers

The Consumer Panel is a statutory body – the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 requires the FSA to establish a Panel to represent the interests of consumers.  We work to advise and challenge the FSA from the earliest stages of its policy development to ensure they take into account the consumer interest.  

The Panel provides a valuable consumer perspective to aid effective regulation.  FSA staff can discuss developing ideas and proposals with the Panel before any final decisions are taken by the FSA Board.  

We are not a campaigning or lobbying group.  We exist to provide an independent consumer perspective primarily for the FSA, but also on the conduct of financial services more generally.  As such, we work with a number of other bodies as well as the FSA.

As the Consumer Panel advises the FSA on consumer interests, it acts as an independent counter balance to the parallel Practitioner Panel and Smaller Businesses Practitioner Panels who advise the FSA from the point of view of industry practitioners.