UK Financial Ombudsman Service registers 6% drop in complaints about derivatives in 2018/19

Maria Nikolova

The drop in complaints about spread-betting was 13%, whereas the number of complaints about interest-rate hedging products was down 40% from the previous year.

The latest Annual Review concerning the work of the UK Financial Ombudsman Service during 2018/2019 has just been published, with the data revealing a rather busy year for the body.

Chief ombudsman & chief executive, Caroline Wayman commented that the past 12 months have been the FOS’s busiest for five years. People brought more than 388,000 complaints to the service – 388,392 new complaints, to be more precise. This is up 14% on the year before.

FOS dealt with nearly 1.7 million phone calls, emails and letters from people concerned about their money.

One of the trends behind this data is the rise in complaints about consumer credit products and services – which grew by a further 89%, following last year’s 40% increase. When PPI is excluded, they represented one in every three new cases the FOS received this year.

The complaints about derivatives, however, fell when compared to the preceding year.

The Financial Ombudsman Service received 376 complaints about derivative products in 2018/19, down 6% from the preceding year. Spread-betting complaints marked a drop of 13%, whereas those about interest-rate hedging products fell by 40%.

The portion of upheld complaints about derivative products was 18% in 2018/19, down from 21% in 2017/18.

FOS also saw on a large scale the implications of the ongoing shift to online banking – as a major IT failure, as well as several smaller ones, affected millions of people and generated many thousands of complaints. Back in September 2018, FOS published a special Consumer Factsheet over IT issues that had affected the operations of several banks, including RBS, TSB, NatWest, and Barclays. The publication of the Factsheet was in response to the growing volume of enquiries that the FOS has to deal with related to the recent computer troubles at the financial institutions.

The FOS explained that the first steps that the customers have to take include getting in touch with the bank and letting the bank know what happened to them because of the computer problems; what the customers want the bank to do to help put things right for them; and what losses the customers want the bank to cover.

Read this next

Digital Assets

Kraken signs commitment to launch regulated business in Canada

San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has filed a pre-registration undertaking with a Canadian provincial regulator as it works towards becoming a regulated provider in the country.

Interviews

TT’s Keith Todd brings fixed income and cybersecurity to FIA Boca 2023

FinanceFeeds Editor-in-Chief Nikolai Isayev spoke with Keith Todd about Trading Technologies’ move to fixed income after nearly 30 years of existence. TT is also proposing cooperation and transparency among competitors to tackle cyber risks.

Digital Assets

Binance joins FIDO Alliance to enhance user security with introduction of passkeys

“With passkeys, a user can quickly and safely sign in across multiple sites, apps, and devices with local biometric authorization. Binance will offer users a more secure and streamlined experience using passkeys on our platform without compromising on security”.

Digital Assets

ipaymy taps TripleA in Singapore for rent, invoices, taxes, salaries in Crypto

“Our white label crypto payment solution enables our partners to reap the benefits of accepting crypto payments, without managing crypto on their balance sheets. This makes it an ideal solution for businesses looking to offer cryptocurrency payments volatility-free.”

Industry News

London and New York rank joint first as top financial centers, according to…London

“The UK remains one of the most open and global financial centres with better access to international markets than the US, France, or Japan. But our competitive advantage is at risk.”

Interviews

Sterling Trading Tech (STT) discusses their Risk & Margin System at FIA Boca 2023

FinanceFeeds Editor-in-Chief Nikolai Isayev spoke with Chief Customer Officer Keith Cacciola and Managing Director of Business Development Andrew Actman about STT’s competitive advantages, the challenges their clients face today, the firm’s product roadmap and new leadership at STT.

Institutional FX

Swedish online brokerage pioneer Nordnet deploys Citi Securities Lending Access platform

“Nordnet was one of the first online brokers in Sweden and has since expanded into a pan-Nordic leading digital platform for savings and investments. We are proud to add this collaborative initiative to our ever-growing list of market innovations for our customers.”

Digital Assets

Elwood integrates Fireblocks to further connect digital asset ecosystem

“As a first port of call, the integration of Fireblocks will enhance the portfolio management system experience for clients, providing users with a comprehensive view of their current and historical digital asset positions across all venues, including their Fireblocks movements and balances.”

Industry News

OKX to open office in Australia, starts rivalry with Kraken in Formula 1

“Our ambition is straightforward – to become the leading crypto platform in the world. We see Australia as an indispensable part of this strategy and a key growth market.”

<