On January 25, the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) published DP11/1, a discussion paper on Product Intervention. DP11/1 considers how the FSA and its successor (the planned Consumer Protection and Markets Authority (CPMA)) should pursue consumer protection and sets out initial proposals for comment.

As part of its new consumer protection strategy introduced in 2010, the FSA has adopted a more interventionist approach with the aim of anticipating consumer detriment where possible and thereby preventing it. This approach aims to scrutinize the whole of the product life cycle from start to finish rather than just focusing on issues arising at the point-of-sale.

As part of this strategy, the key proposals set out in DP11/1 suggest...