Patrick Middleton and Liz Koh were forced to resign from the committee last week, sparking concern that it now contains few frontline advisers.

Murray Weatherston, principal of Financial Focus, says Michael Staal is the only authorised financial adviser practitioner left on the committee and there is now no representation for smaller advisory firms, or the bank/wealth management companies.

Weatherston says:  "Part of me says it probably doesn't matter at the end of the day because the officials would have sorted out what is going to happen anyway.

"But the more charitable part of me says presumably these people were picked not only for their personal skills but because they represented a different stakeholder group. Now it seems to me there are two major stakeholder groups that don't actually have a say at the table."

But Cotton maintains the remaining eight members have "great" experience and expertise in the financial adviser space.

Cotton says: "I'm not so concerned with two of the financial adviser people leaving the committee when the committee has got to this stage. It was always going to be about public input. I think the other people, the remaining eight, are very capable of working with the consultation outcome and developing a Code from that."

David Whyte, an independent consultant and industry commentator, describes the change as "the last vestiges of any pretence that it is self or co-regulation".  Regulation is not going to be a "friendly, co-operative exercise", he says.

"It never has been anywhere else and I see no reason why it should be here. These are, I think, the early signs of the regulator establishing their position and showing their teeth," he says.

Institute of Financial Advisers (IFA) president Lyn McMorran says she was disappointed about the resignations of Middleton and Koh whom she has "the greatest of respect for". However, the IFA had met with members of the Code Committee and felt comfortable it was still keen to engage advisers in discussion on the Code.