Structuring shops get shirty about spread-bets and CFDs

New rules for structured products issuance have reopened old wounds for banks, which claim spread-betting accounts and other products allow retail brokers to encroach on their turf with minimal oversight

FCA: conduct-of-business sourcebook requires firms to make sure clients properly understand risks

A couple of years ago, one of Europe's big banks was preparing to launch a new retail structured product – a simple play on an equity index – but staff were still roped into a two-hour compliance meeting, purely to discuss the marketing strategy. One of the attendees was the bank's head of equity derivatives, and after the meeting he had to hurry to catch a train.

Standing on the platform, he noticed posters for a retail broker's spread-betting service that offered unprotected punts on the same