§ Mr. Bellingham:To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the development of an international kitemark for financial advisers by the International Standards Organisation. [142846]
§ Ms Hewitt:The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) is developing voluntary standards in the field of personal financial planning. The aim of the standards is to provide an international benchmark for financial planners to work towards and to increase recognition of the financial planning process to ultimately benefit the consumer. The UK member of ISO is the British Standards Institution (BSI) which is independent of Government. The current draft standards are available from BSI for public comment until 4 January 2004.
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