FSA warns over 24bn of risky investment products
RETAIL investors may have been sold up to £24bn of structured investment products that were more risky than their sellers admitted, a probe by the City watchdog Financial Services Authority (FSA) found yesterday.
The FSA said a review of these products, backed by now collapsed Lehman Brothers, found the sales advice was “unsuitable” or “unclear” in more than two-thirds of cases.
The watchdog said it found that up to £110m had been invested in these products by around 5,600 UK retail investors.
But if a review now under way by the FSA into non-Lehman backed products finds similar levels of unsuitable advice, holders of products worth about £24bn may be at risk.