Regulation is a key part of financial advisers' lives.

To ensure those entrusted with investors’ money do not go awry and put the money in the wrong place, financial advisers are regulated to the hilt, and to some degree controlled by the Financial Conduct Authority to ensure that best practice applies.

As a result, all the recommendations financial advisers make and the fees incurred on their advice have to be submitted to the FCA on a regular basis, at least several times a year.

On top of this, financial advisers have to contend with new regulation – under Mifid II, for example, if advisers are charging an ongoing fee, they have to prove they are providing an ongoing service, and this has unintended consequences for the maintenance of client records.

Similarly, the Senior Managers and Certification Regime, which comes into operation at the end of the year, will also be something financial adviser companies have to comply with, which is a process that codifies senior managers’ responsibilities and makes them supposedly more accountable.

A big question mark over much regulation is the impact of Brexit.

Much recent new regulation has been generated from Europe, so some may question, following the UK’s departure from the EU, how much EU legislation  will still apply.

The only immediate impact is likely to be if any adviser company relies on passporting, which is if they advise clients outside the UK.

Most companies will have made preparations, but of greater consequence is what happens further down the line if the UK no longer has equivalence with the EU.

Clearly, regulation plays a huge part in advisers’ lives, and thankfully the support industry is stepping up to offer assistance, in the form of both people and technology.

Melanie Tringham is features editor of Financial Adviser and FTAdviser.com.