As we reported last week, the CII’s recent crunch AGM saw a setback for rebels fighting against the deregistration of the Personal Finance Society.

This week I did something rather different. I put on a pair of black work shoes, a decent work shirt and a pair of trousers. I then went to my annual business meeting at our accountants.

The rules of financial regulation were effectively torn up and rewritten this week after the Government stepped in and launched a £120m compensation fund for victims of the London Capital & Finance collapse.

If there is one positive from the London Capital & Finance fiasco it is that the whole sorry business has prompted government and regulatory action to stop a repeat of LCF.

Unusually, a story from the professional bodies provoked a bit of controversy this week.

I am a great believer in applying logic and common sense to situations and avoiding panic. Unless you are in a burning house panicking probably never really helped anyone at anytime and even in a burning house I’m not so sure it would help.

If you mention the acronyms FNZ, GBST and CMA to the average person on the Clapham Omnibus you would get a puzzled look and yet this story has profound implications for UK investors, for the platform sector and in reality for most of the UK population.

Eagle-eyed Budget and Treasury watchers are well aware that what appear to be small or insignificant changes made by Chancellors or ministers can often have huge ramifications in subsequent years.

News this week that the Government will press ahead with plans to push up the age for accessing the Pension Freedoms from 55 to 27 by 2028 will have surprised some and disappointed many.

We’ve just published the latest issue of Financial Planning Today magazine, the sister publication to Financial Planning Today website. It contains some excellent features and content as ever but one poignant article in the magazine, a case study, reminded me of just how crucial Financial Planning can be.