The publication of the FCA’s Business Plan for 2019/20 set me thinking once again about the effectiveness of the regulation of retail financial services.

The 14 March saw the 30th anniversary of Nigel Lawson’s budget speech which conceived the idea of a SIPP (although the name and acronym emerged some time later). 

Showing my age, one of my all time favourite Motown songs is: “The world is like a great big onion” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. I am reminded of this classic at every budget or autumn statement because our pensions world has been growing like an onion – with layer upon layer of complexity added almost every time the Chancellor gets to his feet.

Leading Sipps expert John Moret has blamed rising regulatory burden for the demise of smaller specialist providers.