Watch our video for the findings of our review of how firms are preparing for the implementation of the new platform rules.
Platforms have become an important part of the investment market, with as many as 3 million customers using them to invest a total of more than £250bn of assets. Around 80% of new retail investment business is now done through platforms.
We confirmed our new rules on platforms last year, when we committed to support firms in preparing for the implementation of these rules. We decided to carry out a thematic review to assess how platforms were preparing for the implementation of our rules on 6 April 2014.
Our findings
Overall, platforms seem well prepared for the introduction of the rules.
One area our review focused on was whether or not platforms had given enough consideration to the impact of the changes on their consumers. We found that firms have put significant effort into trying to understand what the changes will mean for their consumers, while still considering the impact on their own business models.
An area where we receive a lot of questions is on rebates. Rebates can only be in the form of units other than in some very specific circumstances. For example, we have allowed a very small amount of cash rebates to continue (a maximum of £1 per month per fund) to aid platforms with ad-hoc and small administrative issues.
The video below highlights more of our findings and some areas for further focus, including the need for good consumer communications. You can also see the presentation slides[1] used in the video and at our platform workshops.