The Association of Independent Financial Advisers has warned that smaller adviser firms must “get a lot smarter” in outsourcing compliance and technology if they are to survive the costs of regulation.
Speaking at a conference last week in London, Paul Smee, director-general of AIFA, told delegates that smaller businesses have to recognise their strengths and weaknesses. He says: “Advisers are spending less time advising and more on administrative tasks. They must be more focussed in dealing with compliance and technology.”
Smee also had a pop at the FSA, saying: ” There is no proposition too simple that the FSA cannot complicate it.”
FSA spokesman Robin Gordon-Walker says: “We disagree that we complicate things. We try and keep our rules as clear as possible in line with consumer protection requirements.”
