Gisc chief executive Chris Woodburn is promising a consultation period until the end of the year on the imminent new rulebook. The GISC is under tight time pressures to publish the guidelines as soon as possible in hard copy and on its web site – allowing people attending the late October roadshows time to study them in advance.
However, the document is unlikely to be available much before the first event.
Defining the guidelines is a sensitive process for the GISC executive, as next week's board meeting considering capital adequacy, solvency and professional indemnity issues is likely to prove.
On the table are proposals for draconian solvency measures, which are worrying some intermediaries. "We have got to strike a balance between what is sought by an effective regulator, and bringing everyone into line," said Mike Slack of the AiiB and a GISC member.
"Some people are thinking along FSA-type lines at the moment on solvency requirements, and some of their ideas are a non-starters as far as we're concerned.
"Excluding assets like the property they own, for example. Brokers and intermediaries have got to be able to draw on their assets."
