IFAs left fuming by 'overcharging' FSA

Independent financial advisors have been left fuming over an admission of overcharging by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), ifaonline.co.uk reported.

In a recent interview with the Financial Times, the head of the FSA, Lord Turner, said that the differential in fees for large banks and small advisors was "nothing like as big as it logically should be".

Bruce Jamieson, principal at Jamieson Financial Management, told ifaonline.co.uk that he thought the fees system was an "absolute disgrace".

Alan Lakey, a partner at Highclere Financial Services, was philosophical about the admission: "If you take the mistreatment of IFAs compared with banks, you can make an analogy with alcoholism."

"The first step to recovery is to admit there's a problem."

The FSA has recently issued a number of large fines to small mortgage brokers for giving irrelevant or untrustworthy advice and not keeping records of customer information.