The Financial Services Authority has fined HSBC £10.5m for inappropriate investment advice to elderly customers by its subsidiary firm NHFA Limited.

Pension providers are failing to meet advisers expectations of service for administration of existing business, according to Defaqto.

The £10.5m fine by the Financial Services Authority for HSBC this week brings the total FSA fines this year to just under £62m.

Over three quarters of advisers are confident in the future of their business post-RDR, according to Ascentric.

Almost half of the population do not know what an annuity is, according to Standard Life.

Rathbones, a sponsor of the Institute of Financial Planning, has appointed a new chief operating officer.

Directly authorised advisers are leading the way in achieving professional qualifications in preparation for RDR.

The average person does not start planning for their retirement until they are aged 52, according to Aviva.

The Financial Services Authority has issued a consultation on guidance about the role non-executive directors should play in retail finance firms.

GDP is suggested to be 0.3 per cent for the three months ending in November, according to economic think-tank the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.