The impact of depolarisation on e-commerce development in the distribution of regulated financial products

摘要

The nature of financial services makes their operation highly dependent on information flows between industry participants. Since 1987, the distribution of regulated financial products in the UK has been polarised between independent advisors, who must select products from the whole market, and distributors tied to a single product manufacturer. The UK regulator, the Financial Services Authority, is now in the process of abolishing the Polarisation regime. This paper considers the impact of such regulatory change on the development of e-commerce applications for the distribution of regulated financial products in the UK. It concludes that the imminent reordering of the regulatory environment has caused a reassessment of the information management strategies of the participants within the industry. An initial period of development blight is likely to be followed by a radical expansion in the interconnectivity within the industry which will increase the drive towards e-commerce processes.