Will today's long-awaited White Paper be enough to avert the next crisis
Today's White Paper has two audiences. First, there is the public, who want to know whether they can trust the banks and insurance firms, and the products they peddle. For them, the Government will have plenty to offer, including a flagship scheme to offer the financial equivalent of NHS Direct – independent financial advice delivered by the likes of the Citizens Advice Bureaux and Age Concern. A pilot scheme has been running since April in the North-east and North-west and a national rollout could take place over the next year.
For disgruntled customers and their champions in the consumer press there is even more: the banks and the Office for Fair Trading will be urged to resolve the wrangles over bank overdraft charges; class actions will made easier to organise; investment firms will have to offer "heath warnings" on riskier products. Consumers ought to be happy with the paper. The banks and the City may have to look harder to see what's in it for them.
As every wily manager knows, the best way to get something done in an organisation is to ask two or more people, independently, to get on with the same job. The downside is some turf fights; the benefit is that the job will indeed get done.
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