HM Treasury

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) "should and could" have intervened in the Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS's) ill-fated acquisition of ABN Amro, a damning report by the Treasury Committee concludes.

Mark Hoban, financial secretary to the Treasury, has announced proposals that will help the authorities deal with the failure of parts of the financial system other than banks.

The Treasury is under so much pressure it should consider getting funding directly from the financial services industry, former cabinet secretary Gus O'Donnell has said.

The Treasury is reluctant to introduce tax breaks for workplace funded healthcare because it fears employers do not value or utilise it correctly, the Work Foundation says.

With less than a year before the ECJ ruling on gender discrimination comes into effect, there is still confusion as to how insurers should respond, according to specialists.

The protection industry may have to change the way it works if it is to maximise the potential of the simple products initiative, the project's leader has said.

Advisers have given the Treasury's simple products initiative a tentative thumbs up while recognising that the financial services industry is overly complicated.

The British Insurance Brokers' Association (BIBA) has launched a sanctions checking facility to help members comply with the Terrorism Act and the FSA financial crime requirements.

Introducing gender-neutral rates will result in premium hikes for life insurance and critical illness (CI), HM Treasury has warned.

The government has begun consulting on how insurers can use gender as a risk factor after a European Court of Justice ruling said providers could not charge different premiums to men and women because of their sex.