Nick Baxter is an Independent Retail Banking Consultant (focusing on credit risk, compliance and consumer products)”; he has an intimate understanding of financial law and compliance. He was a member of the Mortgage Code Compliance Board (MCCB) Advisory Group and its disciplinary Committee up until the FSA took over in 2004. Nick has also given advice to European Commissioners, lenders, trade associations and consumer groups, in Brussels on the European code of lending practice.
It is highly likely that any lay person reading almost any edition of a popular tabloid newspaper would conclude that we live in a compensation culture. Every day readers are bombarded with articles suggesting how much more car insurance costs Read more…
Tax on compensation interest If a complaint about a mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance [PPI] is upheld the compensation paid by the firm is intended to put the customer back in the position they would have been in had the mis-sale Read more…
FOS update shows PPI complaints are not reducing! The Financial Ombudsman Service [FOS] have released up to date Payment Protection Insurance [PPI] uphold statistics to the period ending June 2016. The figures show that more PPI cases were referred to Read more…
The IBFSA was pleased to be invited to engage with the Advertising Standards Authority [ASA] prior to the release of its recent updated guidance, which has been designed to help CMCs comply with the Committee of Advertising Code [CAP Code]. Read more…
RBS GRG Report – The 7th Coming Earlier this week the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) provided (yet) another indication of when the long awaited report into the conduct and practices of Royal Bank of Scotland’s Global Restructuring Group (GRG) was Read more…
Recent research by CCP Research Foundation (one of the few organisations in the World who collate global published banking data) have recently issued details on global banking fines. At any level the sums are eye watering. According to the data Read more…
It almost seemed an insignificant paragraph (5.14) in the Carol Brady [CB] Independent review of claims management regulation (March 2016), but I have always said the proposal to implement a senior managers regime [SMR] requiring the pre-authorisation of individuals who Read more…
The IBFSA were delighted to shine our ‘Spotlight’ on the store card PPI issue for the BBC Radio 4 ‘You and Yours’ programme on 17 June 2016 as this product was often mis-sold and worse mis-understood; many customers don’t even Read more…
In view of the positioning that the IBFSA takes in helping Claims Management Companies [CMCs] improve standards, a number of non-member CMCs, journalists and stakeholders have asked for a copy of our response to the Claims Management Regulator [CMR] fee Read more…
Missing link in the consultation The Claims Management Regulator [CMR] fee capping consultation [Cutting the costs for consumers – Financial claims] gave claims management companies [CMCs] very little time to respond to what was regarded by many to be the Read more…
Who is at fault for the PPI scandal – Banks or CMCs ? The Claims Management Regulator [CMR] has launched its ‘fee cap’ Consultation Paper in response to the Chancellors statement in his last budget. There has already been extensive Read more…
The outcome of the Carol Brady HM Treasury review looking at how CMCs should be regulated and who should regulate them is still awaited. The Financial Conduct Authority [FCA] consultation in respect of a Payment Protection Insurance [PPI] claims time Read more…
The 2016-2017 Legal Ombudsman [LeO] Claims Management Company fees consultation has been released. Although, actually it is not much of a consultation! Frankly, it’s more of a final demand, which makes the contents all the more unsatisfactory and odd. Those Read more…
After much speculation, the Financial Conduct Authority [FCA] Payment Protection Insurance [PPI] deadline consultation has been issued. It is axiomatic that the FCA needs to review it practices and guidance from time to time and as the current PPI complaint Read more…
During the summer break, it was reported that Martin Lewis, MoneySavingExpert.com and Richard Lloyd of Which? had joined forces to write a joint letter to the Financial Conduct Authority [FCA] expressing “serious concern” at media reports that the FCA was Read more…
The IBFSA calls for greater scrutiny of cases referred to the Financial Service Ombudsman [“FOS”]. The recent Financial Conduct Authority [“FCA”] financial penalty (£117,430,600) levied against Lloyds Bank Group highlights the fact that genuine Payment Protection Insurance [“PPI”] claims are Read more…
Regulators have never shirked their responsibilities in respect of holding banks to account when they fail to treat customers who complain fairly. The Financial Conduct Authority [FCA] predecessor (the Financial Services Authority [FSA]) first showed it was serious in these Read more…
The recent release of the Financial Ombudsman Service [FOS] complaints data for the period ending 31 December 2014 shows a mixed set of results. No wonder the Financial Conduct Authority [FCA] announced last month that it was to “gather evidence Read more…
This time last year, the press were reporting a National Australia Bank turnaround of the Clydesdale Bank. Even the BBC headlined the story as “Clydesdale Bank completes turnaround ahead of schedule”. At the time, the stories showed that the Glasgow-based Read more…
Those who focus on press release headlines will, no doubt, be relieved that the recent Financial Conduct Authority [FCA] complaint data showed an overall reduction in complaints by 5%. Of course, any reduction is welcome, but the figures show that Read more…
High profile SIPPs case just the tip of the iceberg
Could mis-selling annuities be a bigger scandal than PPI?
Banks Still Breaking PPI RulesThe members of the Professional Financial Claims Association wish to set professional standards for member firms...
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