While there are a large number of financial products sold in the QFC, it is important to note that relatively few matters have been referred to an independent adjudicator.

The independent adjudicator’s decisions are confidential to the parties. We do not publish the results on our website and the parties are not identified.  

However, there is a need to make customers and firms aware of the types of issues that are being considered by the CDRS. This will help QFC firms to manage their in-house complaints processes, as well as to provide guidance to customers of the types of issues which give rise to complaints to the CDRS.

While each case is different, the following themes have been identified through recent adjudications:

• the risk appetite of the customer was not assessed correctly by the financial adviser and the risk assessment methodology used by the firm should be improved;
• the product sold was inappropriate for the customer, particularly since the complaint involved investment products that held the customer to a lengthy term; and
• the financial adviser failed to bring key terms of the policy directly to the attention of the customer, in particular the full extent of the charges and surrender fees and the long-term nature of the products sold.

To provide further detailed information about the types of issues arising in adjudications, please see our featured case studies. Any information that could identify the parties involved has been removed.