The Governor discusses the current tide of change in the financial services industry and ways it may affect insurance broking. He says:
- 'It is fast becoming a truism that in many cases the insurance broker has more in common with other intermediaries in the savings industry than with what is conventionally thought of as insurance'.
- The direct and indirect conflicts of interest inherent in the plurality of functions to which financial institutions aspire are so manifold that the investor cannot be left wholly to look after himself'·
- ' ... the authorities ... have to consider how best to respond to proposals to develop new forms of financial institutions encompassing previously separated activities. In all probability we will have to devise new safeguards to cope with new structures'.
- 'I judge that the radical changes that we are witnessing at the moment, with the Stock Exchange at their centre, will in retrospect be seen as at least as important as we currently perceive them to be. They pose challenges but also present opportunities to us all'.
Insurance in a changing financial services industry - Governors speech