A QUIET revolution began in Britain's financial services industry on January 1 - and it is likely to have long-term implications for Hong Kong.
Britain's tighter regulations and new competitive arena are in line with the changes being urged by many of Hong Kong's more established personal finance advisers.
And Richard Branson's marketing onslaught is the latest step, after the introduction of new rules on the sale of personal finance products.
Particularly affected are so-called 'Peps', an acronym for personal equity plans, which cover a broad range of life assurance and pension and savings schemes.
'Clearly, if intermediaries are going to stay in this industry they have got to add value, by which I mean a service which cannot be found elsewhere,' said David Thomas, deputy chairman of independent financial advisers Bentley Reid & Thomas.
Carl Huckstep, manager of financial services at Hill Samuel Pacific, added: 'The problem in Hong Kong at the moment is that everyone can call themselves financial advisers and many of the products here are sold solely on the basis of the commission they earn for the intermediary.' Therefore, the risk of dealing in Hong Kong with someone who knew nothing about the business was high, he explained.