FSA tick box regulation criticised

Tom Baigrie, boss of life insurance specialist Lifesearch, has questioned whether the Financial Services Authority (FSA) regulation of advisers works given so many consumers buy without advice online.

The FSA says online products are regulated and online sellers comply with regulations. But it accepts that many buyers just tick the box saying they have read the regulatory information without reading a word of it. Baigrie is right. And it is the most vulnerable who buy unadvised. The FSA is letting them down.