This book examines the law and regulations aimed at protecting investors using banks, building societies, insurance companies, friendly societies, collective investment schemes (e.g., unit trusts), pension schemes and financial intermediaries (e.g., stockbrokers). It specifically excludes any examination of securities legislation and the regulations of the various investment markets aimed at protecting direct investment in companies and their securities. Even so, its aims are ambitious and its strengths and weaknesses arise almost inevitably from its scope.

First its strengths. Part I of the book gives a very useful comparison of the basic techniques used in these disparate areas to protect investors, e.g., common law fiduciary duties, additional disclosure regulations, “cooling-off” periods, authorization regimes, compensation schemes and ombudsmen. Part II gives an introduction to the various U.K. regulatory regimes and in the process it highlights interesting anomalies in the way different financial institutions and investment media are “policed”. Part III concentrates on the Financial Services Act 1986 and the regime it imposes on financial intermediaries. As an introduction to a very complex area the book is remarkably easy to read. However, there are shortcomings.

My main criticism of the book is probably a little unfair, but I was expecting a volume in the Law in Context series to discuss the background to investor protection, the changes in who invests and in the instruments in which they can invest. Unfortunately, for my purposes, there is hardly a statistic, let alone a table, from one end of the book to the other. However, even if one accepts that this is primarily a “black letter” law book, I would have expected some discussion of where the law is going in this area. In particular, the European Union, the regulations of which are likely to dominate this area in the next few years, hardly receives a mention.

The other problem with the book, both for teachers and for compliance officers, is that coverage of each area is inevitably brief, so that the book can only be used as a background introductory text to any one of them. Nevertheless, as such my own students have found it very useful—a clear vote of confidence from the real investors!