23rd September 2009

Meeting with MPs - why not try similar?

With regard to RDR concerns, on Friday 11^th September 2009 a meeting was held between three Conservative Parliamentary Candidates and 20 prominent IFA’s.

The Conservative Parliamentary Candidates in question were:-

1. Mark Garnier MP – Prospective Conservative, Wyre Forest
2. Harriet Baldwin MP - Prospective Conservative MP West Worcs
3. Robin Walker MP - Prospective Conservative MP, Worcester

Mark Garnier, Harriet Baldwin and Robin Walker share a background in financial services and were sympathetic to the issues raised.

The meeting was arranged by Stourport IFA Mike Jeacock and chaired by Simon Mansell. Several prominent IFA speakers were in attendance including Neil Liversidge of The IFA Political Action Group and Julian Stevens, a well know IFA commentator. Further well thought out commentary came from the floor. The meeting was very well received by the prospective MPs in question, who promised to represent these views to Mark Hoban MP, Shadow Treasury Minister, in order that he may pause for thought before accepting the RDR proposals carte blanche ~ as seems, so far, to be his intention.

The prospective MP’s were united in their agreement that the RDR seems to be a hammer to crack a walnut.  In particular, Harriet Baldwin could not understand why the FSA refuses to countenance grand-fathering.  Harriet did advocate full participation in FSA consultations, but Neil Liversidge, who was adamant in his protest that the FSA has ignored representations from the IFA sector, rebutted this.  His position is that there is no point attempting to engage in any further negotiations with the FSA as they are determined simply to ignore the small IFA.  Neil went on to say that it was important for Conservatives to get off the fence and tackle head on the issue of the FSA.  The FSA has, in his opinion, been a disaster for this country and its consumers, and will continue to be so if the Retail Distribution Review is implemented as proposed.

Julian Stevens continued the debate by updating the group on his dealings with Right Honourable Mark Hoban MP.  Julian was concerned that Mark Hoban seems to feel that the FSA is not an instrument of government, and that the RDR remains an issue for the FSA alone.  This was refuted by Julian, and the point was made clear that Lord Adair Turner, Chairman of the FSA, has told a Treasury Select Committee that the FSA had in fact been instructed by Government to relax its regulation of the banks - in effect, to stand back, look the other way and just allow them to get on with things in whatever manner they pleased.  If the FSA is not an instrument of Government, why therefore did the FSA follow Government instruction?

The meeting made clear to the MP’s that the IFA sector, as a whole, has entirely lost confidence in the pro-banking FSA and that it is vital that any future Conservative Government not only reviews the Financial Services Authority, but also fully reviews the RDR on a cost-benefit analysis before its implementation.

The prospective MP’s were united in their decision to make a joint representation to Mark Hoban on behalf of the group.

Simon Mansell, chairman, suggested that this meeting should be used as a template for Independent Financial Advisers up and down the country, to call to account their Conservative and prospective Conservative MP’s, in order that they (as Neil Liversidge made clear) should earn their vote rather than expect it!

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