FCA tweaks suitability rules on offshore life insurance bonds

The proposed change would mean a UK investment manager running the bond's underlying assets would be liable for the suitability of any advice it gives to the client. Currently, a client who deals directly with the asset manager, either on an advisory or discretionary basis, does not have the protection of the FCA's suitability rules or the right to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). This is because the client has effectively become the ‘agent' of the offshore company, which in turn has become the ‘client' of the investment manager. The regulator's existing ‘agent as...