Betting and Investment: Unfair Practices

(asked on 2nd November 2022) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will introduce legislative proposals to extend the remit of the Financial Ombudsman Service to allow judgements on the fairness of terms and conditions of (a) spread betting accounts and (b) other complex investment products.


Answered by
Andrew Griffith Portrait
Andrew Griffith
Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
This question was answered on 9th November 2022

The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) can and does consider complaints about spread betting or derivatives and complex investments. Whether a particular case is covered will depend on its usual considerations of jurisdiction.

The FOS covers complaints about regulated activities by firms that are authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The rules on how the FOS should handle complaints, including its jurisdiction, are determined by the FCA and set out in the Dispute Resolution (DISP) rules in the FCA Handbook.

Any assessment of terms and conditions by the FOS will involve consideration of what is fair and reasonable in all circumstances of the individual complaint. It is often the case that firms must have robust T&Cs in place to uphold a strict trading environment and set clear expectations on themselves and consumers. Whether or not the FOS consider there has been compliance with terms or rules, will depend on the circumstances of the complaint.

The FOS has publicly available guidance on the approach it takes to spread betting and other contracts for difference cases, including how it takes into account any relevant terms and conditions. This guidance can be found at:

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/businesses/complaints-deal/investments/spread-betting-contracts-difference

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