In HK, there is no public platform for arbitrating customer complaints about financial products / services. The roles played by mass media and Consumer Counsil are only criticizing.
But in UK, the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) was set up by law to help settle individual disputes between financial institutions and their customers. FOS can consider complaints about a wide range of financial matters - from insurance and mortgages to savings and investments. The key point is: such service is free of charge!
FOS is not a regulator but can settle disputes as an alternative to the courts. Its determination binds both the customer and the financial institution.
From time to time FOS publishes its determined cases (with disclosing the names), which are of good reference. I had seen a case where the customer challenged the method used by the financial adviser to compute the return of a with-profit bond. FOS dismissed this complaint because it considered that the customer's own calculation of return failed to take into account the "smoothing mechanism" of a with-profit bond.
Many people tend to abuse their right to making complaints whenever they lose money from their investments. This is problematic. Valid complaints should demonstrate the fact that the suitability of advice has been impaired, which is judged not by the investment result but by the selling process.
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