Stephen Gay, director general of AIFA, said: "AIFA welcomes this thorough and comprehensive review of the RDR. We are delighted that so many of our key calls have been considered and broadly support the committee’s conclusions.
“We hope the regulator responds positively to these sensible proposals. At the heart of RDR is the end consumer, who needs advice, and the committee has rightly put the focus back on them. The recommendation to remove the cliff-edge date for qualifications, and consider cases on an individual basis, has been a key AIFA suggestion, and one which will maintain maximum access to experienced advice.
"The committee also echoes many of the risks identified by AIFA. The move to adviser charging is positive but one which will require significant industry effort and a pragmatic time-scale is paramount, particularly as the detailed workings are still to be established.
“In addition we believe the committee should have called on the Office of Fair Trading to consider industry-wide discounting rates to allow provider factoring.
"AIFA was particularly pleased to witness the committee’s desire for a level playing field. The risks posed by vertically integrated firms are a clear and present danger, and we support the committee’s call for an annual report by the Financial Services Authority, and its successor body, on this point.
"AIFA is already working with HMRC to develop both AIFA, and subsequently HMRC, guidance on VAT in adviser charging, a key area of concern among advisers and raised by the committee.
"Finally, we are pleased to see acknowledgement from the committee of the desirability for a long-stop on potential liabilities for firms. And that the draft Financial Services Bill is the appropriate mechanism for this. AIFA continues to lobby hard on this point through our work during the pre-legislative scrutiny of the bill."
