Silly season is upon us once again, and this year’s is particularly notable for the silliness being completely indistinguishable from the bin fire that’s been the rest of 2023. I heard a prominent politican from a party which is extremely likely to form the next government – don’t know why I’m being coy, it was Angela Rayner – say that despite blah blah politics, today’s announced drop in inflation to 6.8% would be a relief to consumers as prices stopped going up and now I’m afraid I have to set fire to everything and not just the bin. 

The thing about silly season is that occasionally a bit of content sneaks out; those who practice Villainy and something I can’t write here but rhymes with Truckery know fine well no-one’s really looking and so it’s always worth keeping eyes open for interesting tidbits. 

I thought, in that spirit, today’s Update might concentrate on Villainy and not-Truckery as its theme, for a bit of light relief before we do a more in-depth thing on the state of the platform market next week; subscribers to Analyser and our insight Stuff will be getting their full-bore packs in the next few days.  

Exhibit A – you may have spotted a bit of a furore about a guy who’s barred from the Canon’s Gait on the Royal Mile and his banking affairs or lack of them. Now, you can say what you like about someone that Coutts – Coutts! – described as a ‘disingenuous grifter’ (and I might start a trad-punk band called The Disingenuous Grifters soon, who’s with me?) but he does know how to work the press to his own advantage… 

…sorry, just had to pause to set fire to some stuff as a private bank called someone else disingenuous… 

…and one of my more cynical colleagues (hi!) spotted something which made me chuckle this morning. It turns out that the FCA is going to do a wee review of Politically Exposed Person rules following ‘feedback’. But they’re also required to do it under the terms of the FSMA 2023. 

Here’s the fun bit. FSMA 2023 got Royal Assent on 29th June this year. Guess what date Farage first started the ball rolling on his de-banking story? Could the two possibly be related? Might Someone be – as m’colleague says – “trying to take credit for forcing the FCA to do something it had a statutory duty to do anyway?” You might very well think that, but of course I couldn’t possibly comment… 

Exhibit B isn’t actually quite as funny, but sort of is in its own way as long as you weren’t the one on the receiving end of it. As all IFAs know, the consulting actuaries are the very worst offenders in terms of all sorts of everyday administrative affairs, from letters of authority through to all sorts of other stuff both important and dull. A hearty cheer, then, for the enormous self-own by Mercers who overpaid a DB transfer by £90k (except did they?) for a scheme where they are ‘administrators’ – and I suppose we have to use that term in its loosest possible sense – and then turned to Messrs Sue, Grabbit and Runne when a request to the member for the £90k back elicited a response in the order of ‘looooool no’.  As NMA points out, the scare tactics from the legal bruisers didn’t work and it appears the issue has slunk off behind the sofa.  

It’s a sign of the times, siblings, that the potential action was from the people who messed up against the individual, rather than the trustees against the people who made the mistake. Welcome back to the wilderness of mirrors, where nothing here is ever what it seems… 

Links below. And your music choice this week was a toughie. I was going to drop some Tool on you as a counterpoint to silly season, but Fibonacci-based polyrhythms all just seemed like A Lot. So instead here’s something much more fun, though sort of tool-related, I suppose. An uncharacteristically upbeat choice – please enjoy Blowtorch by The Go! Team responsibly.  

I suspect another cat will Update you next week, but until then be good, and if you can’t be good then avoid Villainy and not-Truckery.