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By Steve Slater
LONDON, Sept 6 (Reuters) - British politicians may take afresh look next year at recent changes to the way Britonsreceive financial advice, which critics say has left people lesslikely to get any help.
Mark Garnier, a Conservative Party legislator who sits onthe Treasury Select Committee which scrutinises financialissues, said he expected the committee to review how the systemis working next summer.
Garnier said there appeared to be problems with aspects ofthe new rules and he was concerned it could make it more costlyfor his constituents to get independent advice.
Britain's financial watchdog introduced the RetailDistribution Review (RDR) at the start of this year. It madefees for financial advice more transparent and raised minimumqualifications for advisers, after a series of mis-sellingscandals in recent years.
But critics say a hefty upfront fee means low- andmiddle-income families will likely opt not to get any advice atall.
"The possibility of conducting further work on the RDR nextyear has been discussed by the Committee," a spokesman for theTreasury Committee said, adding it had not yet agreed whether tohold an inquiry.
HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds, RoyalBank of Scotland and Santander UK have cut4,000 advisers in the past two years after changing businessmodels to adapt to the new system.
They have reduced the advice on offer or changed their feestructures - such as by charging an upfront fee of 500 pounds($780) or 1,000 pounds - or restricted advice to customers with50,000 pounds or more to invest.
Garnier, a former investment banker, has criticised elementsof the RDR in the past and in July 2001 the Treasury Committeerecommended the regulator should delay RDR implementation by ayear. The watchdog rejected the proposal.
