
In a new series, Michel Reznik reports on increased support for the Financial Services Tribunal & the momentum for change
- A Financial Services Tribunal (FST) should be established to adjudicate claims of small and medium sized enterprises.
- This initiative is gaining momentum through the support of journalists, APPG and Members of Parliament.
- FST would work alongside and in conjunction with the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
The initiative to establish a Financial Services Tribunal (FST) in England and Wales has been gathering momentum. For readers not yet familiar with FST: it is a proposal to create a system, modelled on the employment tribunals, that is aimed at resolving disputes in the financial services sector. It would operate alongside the two existing dispute resolution systems and primarily be aimed to hear matters that fall into the gap between them: the Financial Ombudsman Services’ present remit at the lower end (£150,000) and the point at which it becomes economic to launch a claim in the High Court (several millions). This will comprise a claimant pool mainly