Consumers must be top priority for financial regulators, says finance expert

CONSUMER protection should be given top priority by the financial regulator in the wake of the AIB overcharging scandal and the mis-selling of investment products, according to the country’s leading financial expert.

Eddie Hobbs, the financial spokesman of the Consumers' Association of Ireland, said the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority (IFSRA) must now accept that the ordinary consumer must come first.

Mr Hobbs said that while IFSRA was still "getting off its knees" it must be more proactive in investigating financial institutions to ensure that consumers are not being ripped off or sold products that they do not understand.