On February 19, 2015, the Financial Conduct Authority published a feedback report on its wholesale sector competition review, announcing that it will be launching a wholesale market study into investment and corporate banking to assess whether there is adequate competition within this sector. The FCA wholesale sector competition review found that a lack of transparency and clarity in price and quality of services is preventing clients from being able to tell whether they are getting good value for their money. The review also found that the cross-selling and bundling of services may be making it difficult for smaller firms to compete with larger more established firms. The FCA intends to launch the market study and publish the terms of reference in the second quarter of 2015.
The FCA feedback report is available at: http://www.fca.org.uk/static/documents/feedback-statements/fs15-02.pdf.
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