Expensive, bad for business, unnecessary. RICS campaign against ill-advised extension of FSA powers

Thousands of firms across the UK are bracing themselves against new regulations as the Financial Services Authority starts policing businesses with even the most incidental dealings with insurance services.

The government has decided to go further than the requirements of a recent EU directive - this will hit up to 150,000 UK businesses. RICS, whose members work across the property and construction industries, believes the legislation has not been thought through and will be damaging to business.

For many chartered surveyors, such as managing agents, the provision of insurance accounts for only a small proportion of their total business, and is offered as part of a much wider client service.

RICS has launched a campaign against the new rules and is encouraging its members to write to government about the issue.

RICS chief executive, Louis Armstrong, said:

’FSA regulation will mean more costs, more form filling, more resources spent on compliance and less healthy competition. And, this legislation is unlikely to be applied with anything like the same rigour in competitor EU countries.

’This is a bad move by the Treasury. Worst of all, it’s unnecessary. There is very little evidence of sharp practice in this area. The government has said it wants to regulate business with a light touch, which makes its approach in this instance all the more bizarre.’