Financial
firms offering retail services to the public may soon have to provide regular
information about the training given to staff in a bid to improve regulations
within the sector.
The
industry regulator, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), wants companies to
start providing regular information on such things as training, competence,
financial resources and the number of complaints made against them.
The
FSA has proposed a new reporting system where the required information would be
submitted electronically twice a year.
Sarah
Wilson, director of the FSA’s high street firms division, said that although
greater regulation would lead to costs for employers, it would also create a
simpler code based on the same set of information from every firm.
"The
advent of mortgage and general insurance regulation has given us the
opportunity to start with a blank sheet of paper and determine exactly what
information we need from regulated firms," she added.
The
proposals are set out in consultation papers 197 and 198, and consultation is
open until 11 December.
