(2) whether the scope of the Financial Services Authority training and competence review will include an impact assessment of examination requirements introduced in relation to mortgage sales in October 2004.
Following consultation, the FSA announced in March 2006 its intention that detailed rules on training and competence will not apply to those individuals in financial firms who deal only with wholesale customers.
As part of its review of the training and competence regime, the FSA is now looking at the general role of examination requirements within the regime. The FSA will publish a consultation paper in February 2007.
This will include an assessment of the costs and benefits of examinations as a means of assessing competence, as compared with other potential assessment methods. The consultation will include mortgage firms, but will not include a detailed analysis of the impact of specific examination requirements on particular sectors.
The review will take account of the impact of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MIFID) due to be implemented in the UK in November 2007. The intention is that the removal of detailed training and competence rules for wholesale business, together with any further changes resulting from the wider review, will be made at the time MIFID is implemented.