The financial services industry is highly regulated and companies

selling financial products or advice must adhere to a stringent set of

guidelines set out by the industry's independent regulatory body, the

Financial Services Authority. The FSA has wide-ranging rule-making,

enforcement and investigatory powers and your rights as a consumer are

well protected.

The aim of the FSA is to ?promote efficient, orderly and fair markets

and to help retail consumers achieve a fair deal? (source:

www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/About/What/index.shtml), and it has four principle

objectives: to promote confidence in the industry, to increase public

understanding of the financial system, to protect consumers and to

reduce financial crime.

Companies must be authorised by the FSA in order to sell financial

products and services. This includes banks, building societies,

investment companies, mortgage providers, insurance firms, financial

advisors and pensions sellers. They must comply with the guidelines

set out by the FSA in its Handbook. Broadly speaking, the rules that

financial companies must follow are to:

be trustworthy and financially secure

provide clear information to help you make financial decisions, such

as ?key facts? and ?key features? of products and services

give professional, competent advice

have clear and straightforward procedures for making a complaint

inform you about compensation methods

You can find out whether a company is authorised by the FSA by using

the Check Service on the FSA's website.

If you have a complaint about a financial product or service you have

bought, you should contact the company in the first instance. If the

complaint isn't resolved to you satisfaction here, you should then

contact an independent complaint scheme such as the Financial Ombudsman

Service. The Ombudsman will carry out an impartial investigation into

the complaint and will attempt to resolve it. You don't have to accept

the Ombudsman's findings, but if you do they are legally binding on

both you and the company with whom you have a complaint. If you don't

agree with the findings and want to take the matter further, the next

step is to take your case to court.

Banks and building societies also have their own voluntary code of

conduct for promoting best practice and ensuring that customers are

treated fairly and reasonably. Managed by the Banking Code Standards

Board, it's known simply as the Banking Code and most major high street

banks have signed up to it. Products and services covered by the Code

include bank accounts, overdrafts, loans, credit cards and foreign

exchanges.

Some of the key rules to which the participating banks and building

societies agree to adhere are:

providing clear information on products and services and how they

work

ensuring that promotional material and advertising are accurate

and not misleading

keeping customers informed by sending regular statements and

telling customers about changes to terms and conditions, charges or

interest rates

acting promptly and fairly to deal with complaints when things go

wrong

using safe and secure systems and keeping personal information

confidential

promoting the Banking Code and ensuring that employees understand

and abide by it

The Banking Code Standards Board isn't able to investigate

individual complaints on behalf of consumers, but its helpdesk can

provide useful information and support. If you have a grievance that

you've been unable to sort out with the company concerned, you should

take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service.