The trading watchdog does not have the resources to regulate properly and consumers are losing out as a result, a report warns. The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) does not have the resources to protect consumers from companies' unscrupulous practices, a report has found. The National Audit Office (NAO) said at least £450m of financial harm is being caused by the trading watchdog's failure to regulate the consumer credit market effectively. It found the OFT is not adequately resourced to carry out either the supervision of companies or the monitoring of their compliance with licence standards. As a result, the regulator only acts when it receives information of non-compliance, meaning much malpractice goes unreported. But the report found the OFT had achieved good returns on the money available to it - saving consumers £8.60 for every £1 it spent on enforcing regulations. The watchdog spent £11.5m regulating the consumer credit market in 2011-12, which the NAO said was not enough given the size of the market and level of consumer harm....Read more HERE