OFT and FSA joint statement

The work of the Financial Capability Strategy, led by the FSA and the OFT's Alliance for consumer education complement each other. Both share a vision of educated and confident consumers making informed choices about the products and services they buy.

The FSA was closely involved in the development of OFT's strategy and framework. It is a member of the Alliance and plays a strategic role in the Planning Group which oversees the Alliance's activities. And the OFT, with its statutory responsibilities for credit licensing, is contributing to the Financial Capability Strategy borrowing workstream.

The Alliance aims to give consumers the skills and knowledge to function effectively and responsibly when buying goods and services. This is a much wider remit than the Financial Capability Strategy, which is focused specifically on personal finance. The FSA is working on the Financial Capability Strategy with Government (including the OFT), consumer groups, financial services firms, media and voluntary agencies: the aim is to use information, education and generic advice to improve levels of financial capability.

This means that although the Financial Capability and OFT strategies do not overlap, the FSA and the OFT can and do work closely together to ensure that information is shared and that there is no duplication of effort or waste of resource.

 

Back to: Alliance