Others can be unlucky or simply have a harder time hitting the mark. For those with a chequered professional history, the Approved Persons regime could be the final road block. Everyone at the coalface offering advice or arranging mortgages in banks or independent firms and beyond will have to meet a rigidly prescribed set of criteria.
Now, at first glance, for most professionals, this criteria looks straightforward. Is it too much to expect a financial adviser not to have a criminal record?
Most borrowers would be unsettled if they knew the adviser arranging their £150,000 loan had a conviction of some kind. Consumers would really want to know if an adviser has a conviction for fraud, for example, so most would agree the FSA is right to take this route.
Equally, if advisers deliberately withhold information or lie about anything that could affect an application, it’s right that the net is closing in and a swift route out of the advice industry beckons.
Small misdemeanours like parking fines are rightly something different entirely and the FSA says it will look at each application on a case by case basis.
But the key to ‘fit and proper’ status is honesty, integrity and reputation, which most professions would be expected to deliver as a matter of course, alongside professional competence and capability.
However, the issue which could derail the most advisers, arguably almost as victims of circumstance, is the financial soundness part of the test.
The number of advisers struggling to deal with vastly reduced incomes after the credit crunch has leapt. Anecdotal evidence suggests increasing numbers of advisers are struggling with debt and a past history of commercial insolvency will scupper a bid for Approved Person status. This is one area to watch closely.
Most agree there is no place in financial services for those with criminal records or a history of serious professional wrongdoing. Advisers in financial trouble themselves are also arguably not in a position to treat their customer fairly, as desperation could lead to skewed advice in a bid for higher proc fees.
To be denied a profession as a knock-on result of falling on hard times is a cruel prospect. Although to protect the end consumer, it is also another necessary one.
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And now for something completely different
Who says Americans don’t have a sense of humour?
