36/99
1 March 1999
FINANCIAL SERVICES AND MARKETS BILL IMPROVEMENTS TO SINGLE OMBUDSMAN SCHEME
Improvements to the Financial Services and Markets Bill designed to strengthen the effectiveness of the new single Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme were announced by Economic Secretary Patricia Hewitt today.
Commenting on the announcement, Ms Hewitt said :
"The Government is committed to improving consumer protection. The creation of the single ombudsman scheme is an important element in delivering such protection.
"These changes will improve the ability of the Ombudsman to resolve disputes quickly and with minimum formality, ensuring that complainants should be able to approach the Ombudsman without fear of financial risk to themselves."
The measures follow responses to the consultation on the draft Financial Services and Markets Bill, which will establish the new Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme as the single ombudsman scheme for authorised firms. They are:
- the current provision for appeal on a point of law will
not be retained; - the scheme's powers to order complainants to pay costs
will be scaled back;
the compulsory jurisdiction will be made more flexible by:
- giving the FSA the ability to extend the compulsory jurisdiction of the scheme to most financial services currently under the jurisdiction of the Banking and
- Building Societies ombudsmen, as well as those of the existing ombudsman schemes;
- widening the FSA's discretion over which complaints are to be included within the compulsory jurisdiction;
- providing the FSA with sufficient flexibility to exclude some categories of regulated firms where there is a case to do so.
The announcement was made in reply to a Parliamentary Question from Jackie Lawrence (Preseli Pembrokeshire). The full text of her reply is attached.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. The draft Financial Service and Markets Bill was published on 31 July 1998 (HMT press release 129/98).