The gulf between the FSA and brokers over mandatory commission disclosure deepened this week with claims that John Tiner could implement full transparency rules by September 2007.
Alex Peterkin, a director of compliance specialist FSA Solutions, said she expected feedback to happen early next year, with a consultation paper to follow and implementation in the autumn.
An FSA spokesman said the regulatory body was in the process of conducting a "market failure and cost benefit analysis" for a forensic review of commission disclosure and said the analysis would happen in spring next year. He would not divulge further deadlines.
But Biba head of compliance and training Steve White said he believed the issue was on the FSA's agenda for 2007 and that implementation by September was "too short a timescale".
He confirmed that Biba was "keen to assist the FSA in accomplishing its objective" but likened the advent of regulation to a tsunami wave, which would overwhelm the industry.
"More transparency can be achieved by the market of its own accord and we don't need regulation," he said. "Let Mother Nature take its course."
White said this view was prevalent among regional brokers, who believe that customers are not asking for commission figures and that the market is more transparent today, compared to the past.
This is in contrast to the position of post-Spitzer Marsh. Toby Foster of Marsh said: "Surveys of insurance buyers continue to back up what we hear from clients. Overwhelmingly, they favour the active disclosure of broker remuneration and we are pleased that the industry is moving to embrace this."
In its bid to encourage self-policing, Biba is urging members to focus on potential conflicts of interest, ensure that these have been adequately managed and all arrangements detailed to the board and company, amend terms of business agreements to commercial customers and make sure commission levels correspond correctly.
