Martin Wheatley, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, has questioned the sensibility of a 'buyer beware' mindset.
Speaking in London yesterday, Mr Wheatley described buyer beware, or caveat emptor, as a "major moral hazard".
The FCA has been tasked with working on behalf of both businesses and consumers to ensure fully-functioning financial markets.
Mr Wheatley said: "Is it sensible for consumers of financial products to be held solely responsible for selecting a product unwisely? Particularly when these products are complicated, when they are made up of many different moving parts, when you may not know if it works for 25 to 40 years?
"Is it fair for businesses to rely on a defence of caveat emptor if they sell a product they know is not suitable for the customer?"
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As an alternative solution, Mr Wheatley suggested the use of behavioural economics to help understand consumers' mentality.
He said: "Could we for example, make better use of behavioural economics to support consumers and businesses? To help customers to avoid falling foul of marketing, and sales processes that accentuate and distort the effect of complicated human biases; teaser rates that take advantage of consumer inertia; bizarre insurance exclusions tucked away in the small print' and terms and conditions that are longer than Hamlet but usually far less interesting."
The FCA has already published a paper entitled 'Applying behavioural economics at the FCA' stating this topic will be a key part of the FCA identity.

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