In a rare criticism of the European Union, the Financial Conduct Authority's chief Andrew Bailey (pictured) has expressed his worries about the Packaged Retail and Insurance-based Investment Products regulation.

He told an audience at the London Business School: "I want to be clear that I am concerned about PRIIPS, and I know I am not alone. It carries a risk that it is leading to literally accurate disclosure which is not providing useful context, and there is evidence that funds, for instance from the US, are withdrawing from Europe to avoid the burden. I have also heard concerns about performance projections. We all have to take this seriously."

The only remedy Bailey envisioned was a continuance of dialogue: "We will also continue to work with the European Supervisory Authorities, and contribute to the European Commission’s post-implementation review of the PRIIPS Regulation."

Liz Field, the CEO of PIMFA, the UK’s largest personal investment management and financial advice association, joined forces in January with the Investment Association to call for an urgent review of the onerous regulation. Her angle was slightly different from Bailey's.

She said: "In instances where Key Information Documents (KIDs) provide misleading information - regardless of product providers' compliance with detailed KID content requirements - advisers and distributors should not be expected to paper over the cracks by providing 'additional explanation' to investors. The ad-hoc correction of documents that are a matter of regulatory requirement should not be undertaken lightly - as well as creating further inconsistencies in the way individual products are presented to investors, such an approach may result in wholly unreasonable liabilities for advisors and distributors."

In that same month, the FCA published a statement in which it clarified some - but not all - of its views about KIDs.