The news of Hector Sants’ resignation as chief executive officer of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has cast further doubt on the future and effectiveness of the regulator.

Group personal pensions and group stakeholder pensions cannot be sold by advisers on a commission basis from 2012 under new guidelines.

Standard Life has been fined £2.45m for “serious systems and controls failings” by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

The run-up to the change of the pension access age could ignite a mis-selling timebomb, Carl Melvin, of Affluent Financial Planning, has warned.

More than 70% of independent financial advisers (IFAs) believe the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has been a failure, though there is limited appetite for the Conservative proposals to scrap it, PM and YouGov research has revealed.

A poll of 280 IFAs from across the country found 41% strongly agreed and 30% agreed that the FSA had been a failure.

The latest Financial Services Authority (FSA) report into small self-invested personal pension (Sipp) providers could have wider implications on the issue of mis-selling, Mattioli Woods has warned.

Financial industry professionals have praised Lord Turner’s review of the banking crisis which called for “major changes” to regulation.

Industry bodies have come out in support of the lifting of the ban on short selling on January 16. But a leading legal firm has warned against a possible backlash against trustees.