The Financial Services Consumer Panel was set up in 1998. It was then able to provide preparatory advice to the Financial Services Authority as it was being formed out of the previous regulatory bodies.
The first Chairman, Barbara Saunders, had been Chairman of the Personal Investment Authority (PIA) Consumer Panel. She, together with a number of other members helped to provide a basis of knowledge of dealing with the consumer interest in financial services. Since then, the Panel has been fortunate in having a wide range of different members of the Panel who have all added their perspective on the consumer interest in financial services.
Certain themes have been maintained through the years – particularly the need for clear and unbiased advice for consumers, and that consumer confidence is best maintained through open and transparent dealings by firms and the regulator.
The Panel published its first annual report in 2000, looking back to 1999. Copies of the Annual Reports are available to download in the Publications section of this site.