Speaking to the FT on Monday, the chairman of the Financial Services Authority, Callum McCarthy, expressed his concern about overlaps between the FSA and the Financial Ombudsman Service.

"The question I think is really about whether the ombudsman, by making specific decisions, is actually making policy," he said.

A spokesman for the Treasury told ePolitix.com: "In relation to his comments on the Financial Ombudsman, we have announced a two-year review of the Financial Services and Markets Act, and the Ombudsman will be a part of that."

Forum Response: Building Societies Association

A spokeswoman for the BSA told ePolitix.com: "The nature and scale of complaints has radically changed - 'blanket' complaints have doubled the Financial Ombudsman Service's workload in three years, and it is difficult to see how the speedy, informal service it provides can be adequate to address some of the more complicated cases it receives, especially where there are wider implications for a firm or a sector.

"Therefore, we welcome the FSA chairman's recognition that there is clearly an issue to be addressed.

"It is now appropriate to introduce a review mechanism that recognises the radically changed climate and helps ensure the proper determination of the more difficult principles, without prejudicing in any way the rights of complainants, and for the FOS to accept its statutory obligation formally to consult in certain circumstances."