Genghis - I agree - but seeing as the CAA believe finance is of interest to them when approving the FTOs, I believe they should put this at the top of their 'to do' list.
It isn't good enough to abrogate all responsibility with this approval privilege. They regulate students very strongly and earn a not inconsiderable sum from the training process.
MCDU2 has raised an interesting point, but I don't think the interest earned would cover the cost of administering an escrow scheme. The cost of flight training will have to go up, but I believe peace of mind is an important part of the training process.
Another point he mentions makes me wonder... Why is it there is no standard training curriculum? If this was the case, you could just take up with a different FTO from the point you had reached before. No sending of records from a now defunct organisation who mightn't care less if the records are transferred.