Recommendation 155

The former Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister, Bim Afolami, highlighted the “action, powers and remit of the FOS” 233 as a key area for regulatory change. He said: “We now have a situation where you have a Financial Ombudsman that can make determinations that supersede or change rules that were in place at a time when the FCA had already made rules and there is primary legislation that underpins the secondary legislation under which the FCA makes rules.” 234 Andy Briggs MBE, Chief Executive Officer of Phoenix Group, provided us with an example of this issue in practice: “In 2016, the regulator issued more regulation around reviewable whole of life. The industry therefore took that on board and changed their practices prospectively based on that regulation. We now have a whole host of claims across the industry from, say, a group from 2013. We are looking at the moment at where the FOS is applying the 2016 regulation to communications and business sold in 2013. That is a specific live example.” 235