The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has published proposals to ban the promotion of Unregulated Collective Investment Schemes (UCIS) and similar products to the vast majority of retail investors in the UK. The proposed rules mean that, in the retail market, promotions will generally be restricted to sophisticated investors and high net worth individuals for whom the products are more likely to be suitable. Currently, UCIS can be promoted to ordinary retail investors if an adviser first assesses the product’s suitability. In effect, the consultation paper should prevent firms from marketing UCIS to ordinary retail customers, even in the context of financial advice. The consultation paper follows on from extensive work undertaken by the FSA, which found that only one in every four advised sales of UCIS to retail customers were suitable, taking into account the customer’s needs and requirements. The FSA found that many promotions breach the restrictions and only a minority of advice is suitable.