Why has the cycle of product mis-selling, widespread consumer detriment, complaints and (eventually) the imposition of penalties and the securing of redress from the finance industry proved to be so hard to break? This paper examines the payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling scandal in the UK with a view to identifying whether the Financial Services Authority's experience in that matter is bringing the UK any closer to finding regulatory solutions that are likely to produce a meaningful advance in curbing mis-selling problems. The FSA has said that its actions taken in the PPI market illustrate the type of intervention that its successor, the Financial Conduct Authority, can be expected to make.