FCA calls on advisers to stockpile earnings in case of complaints

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) could up the amount of easily accessible cash advisers have to hold a percentage of their yearly investment advice earnings, in a bid to stop firms failing in the face of a "normal" level of complaints.

The regulator wants to introduce a new capital adequacy metric based on adviser income, alongside a new minimum requirement of £15,000 by June next year and £20,000 from the year after. The FCA's previous proposals - which had been due to come into force in December 2015 rather than next June - were based on firms' expenditure rather than income. In a consultation paper out today, the FCA proposed to introduce a charge based on the annual investment business income earned in the previous year. For most investment firms, that should hover around 5%, the FCA said. But for those pe...