Collective redress

The Financial Services Bill, now making its way through Parliament, contains important provisions relating to consumer redress which, if enacted, would have far reaching implications for the financial services industry as Simon Orton and Kitty Edwards of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer explain.

Simon Orton (+44 20 7832 7671, simon.orton@freshfield.com) is a dispute resolution partner and Kitty Edwards (kitty.edwards@freshfields.com) is a senior associate at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.

The Financial Services Bill proposes, firstly, to introduce a ‘collective action’, which would enable a representative claimant to bring proceedings on behalf of a class of customers or other claimants and, secondly, to give the FSA unprecedented new powers to impose redress schemes on the industry.