Promoting high-risk investments - the FCA's reform of COBS 4

New rules designed to curtail the public's access to restricted and non-mass-market investments do not ameliorate the sheer fiddliness of this subject. Would it not be simpler if the FCA just banned the sale of all non-mainstream products to retail clients? suggests Adam Samuel.

Adam SamuelBA LLM DipPFS MCISI FCIArb Certs CII (MP&ER) Barrister and Attorney may be contacted atadamsamuel@aol.com.For links to where you can buy the second edition of 'Consumer Financial Services Complaints and Compensation', seewww.adamsamuel.com/writing.

The Financial Conduct Authority has endured a succession of embarrassments through the promotion of a wide variety of unauthorised investments by regulated firms, often at the request of ethically unaligned providers or intermediaries. In February 2023, the last stage of what the regulator hopes will be the final version of its rules in this area has come into force.