... continued.
Referring to both the OFT and the FSA, and in particular to the waiver issued by the FSA, I ended my last post with this question:
What is it in the nature of their relationship, that allows them:
- complete control over the rights to justice of ordinary people,
- and the power to halt Courts of Justice stone dead in their tracks! Something not even Governments find easy to do.
Let me remind you this is Test 3 out of 4. Test 3 - Evidence that the Concordat agreed between the Financial Services Authority and the Office of Fair Trading established the basis for real consumer detriment and serious regulatory failings.
I mentioned earlier that I would attempt to offer any evidence in respect of this test in easily digestible portions - attempt is the operative word. I am about to fail - big time! Sorry!
There is not one Concordat, there are several, nor do they remain static in their content or application.
Anyone familiar with Genesis 5: will be aware of the word "begat". I intend to adopt that format to illustrate just how complex this world of Concordats is - and it may help you understand just how easy it would be to have a theory which is fine, but does not work out in practice - which I hope will explain why I spent time on that phrase in an earlier post.
Upfront let me tell you that I do not intend to get my "begats" in any totally time specific order - this is not the OFT/FSA version of "Who do you think you are?" , where as that BBC programme ends you are shown a set of perfectly straight lines, in a perfect series of connections, which establish a clear genealogical lineage.
However, let me see if you form the same opinion as I have? Does what you are about to see beg the question of both the FSA and the OFT - "Who on earth do you think you are? "
What I am about to do is offer you a series of links, we will start with one link, then pick up the links which appear on that first link, then follow each of those links, and then pick up each of the links in every one of those subsequent links, and so on. (Health and safety message - Don't worry after a while, even though I could continue for far longer - I will stop.)
But if you want to know what the Concordats between the OFT and FSA are - this is what you have to do - and yes do feel free to read, absorb, and understand each and every item as you go - why should I be the only one to suffer ;-))?
We start on the 31st of July 2006, and immediately see that ... nope - sorry, that is a revised Concordat, and we really need to go back to 2001.
Nah, let's just start there anyway, and just wander all over a field, no, more like a universe of Concordats and related items.
This Concordat begat ... maybe, this which,.. maybe begat this ... which maybe begat this (yes, well spotted there is the mention of a Concordat related to UTCCR - see how many more you can spot as we go on) ... which maybe begat this ... or maybe it was this to do with Banking Conduct ... or this ... or howsabout this - (It's a memoranda of understanding - and maybe that is what we all need right now - some understanding on all this) ... but how about this (all about better regulations - just what the doctor ordered, perhaps - but hang on, looks like there is a special offer of some kind - three better regulations for the price of one) look here and also here ... ooops, sorry I just missed another one about better regulations here.
In need of some light relief, anyone? Well, just for a laugh go here ... then keep going to here - Yay, we did it, if like me you have read every single one of those items, and googled all the others that exist, you may - at long last - have found this on that last page:
"Bank charges
Banks currently raise a significant proportion of their revenue from charges on unauthorised overdrafts which are not visible to and controllable by consumers and therefore not subject to effective competition.
We are undertaking an investigation of fairness under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 with a view to bringing enforcement action. Alongside this we are seeking to agree changes to charges with banks and exploring alternative ways to address our concerns."
But then, do you notice you are invited to use another link for further information about Bank charges, and off we go again to even more links - sorry, off you go again, if you are brave enough, I've already been there, round and round in circles.
Now, c'mon, be honest ... it was easy wasn't it? It clarified the whole issue of the relationship between the FSA and the OFT didn't it. There isn't and can never be any confusion about who does what, and when and why, can there?
No, it isn't easy, and yes, its totally confusing. Genesis 5; leads on to Genesis 11: - which is where you will find the Tower of Babel - where nobody understood a word anyone else was saying, languages became wholly unitelligible, and in their own way the OFT and the FSA have over the years created their very own Tower of Babel.
I am not sure, given the number of Concordats, plans and other links, they even understand what they are doing. - are you?
For me, and just perhaps now for you as well, it's not just a question of asking the FSA and the OFT - "Who on earth do you think you are?" - but "What on earth do you think you are doing?" and "How on earth is anyone meant to understand?"
And it is fair, yes that word - fair, it is fair to ask those questions, because one of the prime reasons for the very existence of the FSA and the OFT recognises something called the asymmetries of knowledge, power and influence between say the Banks or Insurance Companies and the ordinary individual. Perhaps like me, you may now be persuaded that the FSA and the OFT in being given the legal powers to address such problems have not solved them, but have just massively added to them.
Remember, all I am (perhaps by now I can say - we are) trying to discover is a simple answer to a simple question:
Let's ask Lord Turner and the FSA this very simple question:
Do you believe that the charges levied by Banks on their customers were and are fair or unfair?
I can find this answer : " ... The banks have exploited their position of power to impose unfair charges...."
But it doesn't come from Lord Turner or the FSA.
I can also find this answer: " ... stronger consumer protections, including measures to end unfair bank and financial transaction charges ..."
Links to those quotations, and the many others which describe bank charges as "unfair" in unequivocal terms will follow in a later post.
But of this you have my assurance - they don't come from Lord Turner or the FSA.
I know my answer, I suspect you do as well, but are you beginning to wonder if Lord Turner or the FSA do in fact have an answer?
Surely, somewhere in that blizzard of documentation (and trust me, that was just a glimpse), in all of those carefully constructed plans, that myriad of Concordats, there lies an answer?
I wonder if Lord Turner or the FSA could spare just a few minutes to point out where?
Or, maybe, just maybe, you are beginning to wonder if Lord Turner or the FSA even care. Do they care about the millions of ordinary people who have been affected by this issue? Was it showing they cared, when they issued their waiver, which "switched off" the FOS, and closed the Courts?
Maybe, you are beginning to wonder if Lord Turner and the FSA just wish people with questions would go away and leave them alone. Maybe they just want to "switch off", not get involved. It has happened before, remember?
.
No comments :
Post a Comment