<!–
<!–
<!– <!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
Warning: Baroness Sharon Bowles believes the FCA has misapplied trust rules
British investors have been crippled by the City watchdog’s “misleading” use of old EU rules, a peer will claim today.
Baroness Sharon Bowles will say the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has misapplied rules on investment trusts to make them look more expensive, “killing the sector”.
It comes as Baroness Ros Altmann, the former pensions minister, pushes a bill to remove trusts from these rules, which she says will tempt them to invest in UK assets rather than offshore rivals.
In the second reading of the bill today, Bowles is expected to say confusion over the real cost of putting money into trusts is the result of misinformation, which is the fault of the FCA.
EU regulations in 2013 classified British listed trusts as “alternative investment funds”, so the FCA placed them in the same category as private equity and hedge funds.
But trusts are subject to strict disclosure rules, requiring them to report some charges in a way that makes it appear as if investors are paying them when they are not, making them appear more expensive than they are.