On 4 July, the Chartered Body Alliance sent an open letter to FCA chief executive Andrew Bailey in response to the regulator’s 2018-2019 Business Plan.
The alliance consists of the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (Cisi) and the Chartered Banker Institute (CBI).
In the letter, it urged the FCA to seriously increase its engagement rate with professional bodies as they are “obvious partners” to help it achieve consumer trust in the UK sector and set a model for others around the world.
‘Third force’
The alliance positions itself in the letter as a “third force”, the other two being the regulator and organisations pushing for cultural change and a higher level of professionalism in the industry.
“The alliance urges the regulator to therefore offer more support for the work of professional bodies, particularly in the areas of improving culture,” it says.
Simon Culhane, Cisi chief executive, said: “We stress to the regulator and the public at large the benefits to be obtained from engaging 200,000 professional body members, who are in positions of influence throughout the profession.”
While Simon Thompson, chief executive of the CBI, says in the letter that the alliance plays a key role in helping current and future members to work with technology, including robo advice, to support customers.
“As such, it is important that regulators recognise and more publicly acknowledge this role, our work and the personal commitment of our members and those achieving our professional standards,” Thompson said.
Sian Fisher, chief executive of the CII, said: “Working with the regulator we need to find ways to ensure that competition for customers can revolve around quality of service, good value and partnership, rather than only headline cost.
“If not, we will continue distortion to price to the detriment of customers and the Profession alike,” she said.
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