Gareth Fatchett of solicitors Regulatory Legal was the speaker at the Cotswold Branch November meeting, held at branch sponsor Zurich’s offices in Cheltenham.

Mr Fatchett mainly focused on looking at the Legal Services Act and its implications for Financial Planners and Law firms post-RDR.

By contrasting the simplicity of setting up a Law firm with the processes required to establish a Financial Planning business, he suggested that financial services practitioners were the most regulated profession in this regard.

He predicted fewer financial services practitioners post-RDR and a tendency towards larger firms with some smaller “one man bands” amalgamating into groups of four or five practitioners, using communal support, practices and procedures.

Mr Fatchett also highlighted that terms of business should clearly establish what services were, and importantly, were not being offered.

This was the final meeting for Steve Kirby CFP^CM as branch chairman to whom members showed their appreciation and thanks. Mr Kirby said: “A wide ranging presentation (over two hours) sped by very quickly. Members generally rated this as one of the highlights of the year’s programme.”