According to Mark Hoban MP, shadow financial secretary to the Treasury, the FSA has failed to perform both its function as custodian of financial markets and in its duty to safeguard the interests of consumers.
He said: “That is why we think it [the FSA] should be scrapped, with responsibility for regulating IFAs and other intermediaries passing to the Consumer Protection Agency.”
In a letter to IFA Julian Stevens, of Harvest Independent Financial Management Hoban has now clarified the stance of the Conservative Party.
The letter said: “The RDR is a matter for the FSA and as a consumer focussed initiative, it will pass to the Consumer Protection Authority as the body which will take over the regulation of the IFA community.
“So the change in the regulatory structure should not affect neither the progress of the RDR nor the timetable,” he said.
In his letter to the House of Commons, Stevens questioned whether the CPA would be subject to a regular audit by the National Audit Office and if it would also be subject to a periodic review by an independent body.
In response, Hoban said: “On the broader conduct of the CPA, we intend that it will be fully accountable to parliament and to the companies it regulates.
