FCA: We will go further than FSA on product suitability

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will likely "go further" than the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in challenging providers on their products' target markets and charges.

A document outlining the FCA's approach to regulation revealed the body would "challenge providers" on the value-for-money of their products and the charging structures underpinning them. "It is likely we will go further than the FSA has previously done," the document reads. The development relates to a key power set to be granted to the FCA under the Financial Services Bill: product intervention. It will allow the FCA to "intervene early, to pre-empt and prevent widespread harm from happening to consumers from happening in the first place, rather than clear up after the event". ...