Biba 2013: Wheatley promises to listen to brokers

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) chief executive Martin Wheatley has soothed brokers’ fears by making a promise that the regulator will listen to their concerns before making decisions.

“I commit to you that we as a body, as the FCA, will listen,” Wheatley said at the 2013 Biba conference.

During his speech to brokers, Wheatley added the FCA thought the UK insurance market was “a huge success,” and that he wanted the regulator to help maintain that.

But he warned that the FCA would still take tough action when it suspected any wrongdoing.

“Early and decisive action is something you should welcome,” he said. “Our approach will be to work closely with Biba and with you, but to identify problems early.

“We will want to intervene earlier if in our judgement we see products or practices that are going to result in a redress problem later down the line.”

The FCA boss added that the current regulatory cost burden to brokers was fair, because the UK had the largest insurance market in Europe and needed more regulation to cope.

Wheatley also said that he expected the proposals for mandatory commission disclosure in the second draft of the Insurance Mediation Directive to be watered down. But he added that the outcome would still force greater disclosure requirements on brokers.

Click here to read the Regulation Report with news and views live from the floor at the Biba conference.