{"id":181,"date":"2025-07-14T00:58:04","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T00:58:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/?p=181"},"modified":"2025-07-14T00:58:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T00:58:04","slug":"mps-slam-disrespectful-obstruction-by-chair-of-uk-financial-ombudsman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/?p=181","title":{"rendered":"MPs slam \u2018disrespectful\u2019 obstruction by chair of UK financial ombudsman"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__content-sign-up-topic-description o3-type-body-base\"><span>Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe class=\"article__content-sign-up-iframe close\" scrolling=\"no\" id=\"signUpIframe\" data-prev-url=\"\/register\/in-article-sign-up?ft-content-uuid=337798e9-acc4-424b-af02-dff594ddddde\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p>MPs have accused the chair of the Financial Ombudsman Service of \u201cdisrespectful\u201d behaviour, saying she tried to stop them finding out that the body\u2019s chief executive was sacked after a \u201cmutual collapse in confidence\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The scathing findings by the House of Commons Treasury select committee add to a deepening crisis at the FOS. Its powers are set to be curbed by chancellor Rachel Reeves in her Mansion House speech on Tuesday after it became a lightning rod for City criticism of regulators.<\/p>\n<p>MPs have been frustrated by FOS chair Baroness Zahida Manzoor\u2019s refusal at a February hearing to explain why its chief executive Abby Thomas left the ombudsman unexpectedly that month after less than three years in the job, except for repeating that it was \u201ca mutual agreement\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Manzoor continued to resist answering the committee\u2019s questions after the hearing, demanding the MPs promise to keep any answers confidential and arguing that she could not be compelled to provide information because she was a member of the House of Lords, the committee said. <\/p>\n<p>The MPs said on Monday that argument, while \u201cstrictly true\u201d, was \u201cunnecessary and disrespectful\u201d, adding that peers taking leadership roles at public bodies must accept scrutiny from the Commons.<\/p>\n<p>Manzoor only answered the MPs questions after they compelled the FOS to disclose key documents around Thomas\u2019s departure. Those records showed she was dismissed by the board after \u201cfundamental disagreements\u201d over strategy, management and operations led to a \u201ccollapse in confidence on both sides\u201d, the committee said.<\/p>\n<p>It did not publish the documents, but said the collapse in confidence that led to the board firing Thomas \u201ccovered a broad range of issues and was not driven by a single event or topic\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m afraid that the handling of this situation by the senior leadership of the Financial Ombudsman Service has been deeply disappointing,\u201d said Meg Hillier, chair of the Treasury select committee.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Hillier said the failure of FOS directors to frustrate the committee\u2019s inquiry \u201csends a clear message to any organisation considering similar action in future\u201d that MPs will get answers \u201cwhether senior officials attempt to block them or not\u201d.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"n-content-image n-content-image--full\" data-component=\"image-set\"><picture><source media=\"(min-width: 700px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A71432a89-c850-4b30-9e55-922e0429976d?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=1 1x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A71432a89-c850-4b30-9e55-922e0429976d?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=2 2x\" width=\"1981\" height=\"1321\"\/><source media=\"(max-width: 490px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A0313276a-a028-4364-b08b-da619b2ec8a6?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=490&amp;dpr=1 1x,https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/ftcms%3A0313276a-a028-4364-b08b-da619b2ec8a6?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=490&amp;dpr=2 2x\" width=\"1305\" height=\"1305\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/__origami\/service\/image\/v2\/images\/raw\/https%3A%2F%2Fd1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net%2Fproduction%2F71432a89-c850-4b30-9e55-922e0429976d.jpg?source=next-article&amp;fit=scale-down&amp;quality=highest&amp;width=700&amp;dpr=1\" alt=\"Former financial ombudsman chief Abby Thomas\" data-image-type=\"image\" width=\"1981\" height=\"1321\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/picture><figcaption class=\"n-content-picture__caption o3-editorial-typography-caption\"><span>Abby Thomas left her job as chief executive of the financial ombudsman after less than three years in the job<\/span><span> <!-- -->\u00a9 Charlie Bibby\/FT<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Baroness Manzoor, who plans to step down as FOS chair at the start of August, said: \u201cI am committed to providing open and transparent evidence to the committee, but there are rare instances when that can be difficult \u2014 particularly when it relates to employment matters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Thomas was under pressure to take a less consumer-friendly approach, according to a person familiar with the matter, who said the ombudsman\u2019s board was frustrated at her reluctance to start charging claims-management companies for bringing cases \u2014 a step it has since taken.<\/p>\n<p>The upheaval underlines how the usually low-key body \u2014 which deals with consumer complaints against the financial sector \u2014 has come under scrutiny for its role in the multibillion-pound scandal over car loans, following claims by City firms that it was deterring investors in the UK.<\/p>\n<p>City minister Emma Reynolds said last month that the ombudsman would be overhauled to stop it acting like \u201ca quasi-regulator\u201d. This opened the door to the potential introduction of a new appeal process for companies to challenge its decisions if they are seen as contradicting the rules set by the Financial Conduct Authority, the main watchdog.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Financial Ombudsman Service plays a vital role in maintaining consumer confidence, but it is clear that the way complaints are currently assessed can occasionally create uncertainty for firms, especially where decisions depart from existing and established FCA rules and guidance,\u201d said Simon Harrington, head of public affairs at the Personal Investment Management and Financial Advice Association.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>#MPs #slam #disrespectful #obstruction #chair #financial #ombudsman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. MPs have accused the chair of the Financial Ombudsman Service of \u201cdisrespectful\u201d behaviour, saying she tried to stop them finding out that the body\u2019s chief executive was sacked after a \u201cmutual collapse in confidence\u201d. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[225,223,226,221,224,227,222],"class_list":{"0":"post-181","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-chair","9":"tag-disrespectful","10":"tag-financial","11":"tag-mps","12":"tag-obstruction","13":"tag-ombudsman","14":"tag-slam"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.worldpumpnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}