Read about our investigations into firms and individuals who provided unsuitable advice to consumers to transfer out of the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS), as well as other defined benefit (DB) pension schemes.
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Defined Benefit (DB) pensions offer a guaranteed retirement income. People who want to transfer out of such a pension are required to get advice if the pot is worth more than £30k, to make sure that this is in their best interests. They rely on getting high quality advice which enables them to make an informed decision.
The British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) was a DB pension scheme. Around 8,000 people transferred out of the BSPS, and our evidence suggests almost half (46%) did so after receiving unsuitable advice.
We have carried out around 30 investigations into firms and individuals regarding DB transfer advice related to BSPS. Investigations are now complete, and we are working to reach final decisions on what sanctions are appropriate where we have found misconduct.
Redress for unsuitable BSPS advice
Alongside our enforcement cases, we have been making sure former BSPS members are able to get redress for unsuitable advice.
Our aim is to put them back in the position they would have been in, had they not received the poor advice. That’s why in November 2022 we announced a redress scheme for consumers who had transferred out of the BSPS.
Firms will have to review the advice they gave and pay redress to those who lost money because of unsuitable advice.
Before the scheme, firms had already paid £35m in redress to customers following our action. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has also paid out over £69m. We expect consumers to receive a further £49m through the redress scheme. What’s more, where possible, we will not impose fines so that redress is paid to the FSCS. This helps ensure those responsible pay towards the redress owed.
We have also taken action where firms have tried to avoid their liabilities and make misleading redress offers to consumers.
Our approach to enforcement
We have taken, and are taking, enforcement action where there is evidence of serious misconduct.
We have seen 2 main types of misconduct in BSPS cases:
- In most cases, firms or individuals have breached the principle that they must conduct their business with “due skill, care and diligence”. This means that advisers have shown a significant lack of competence in their advice.
- In more serious cases, firms or advisers have breached the principle that they must conduct their business “with integrity”. This means that they have been reckless or dishonest in how they have dealt with consumers and/or the FCA.
Actions we can take include:
- public censure
- financial penalties
- banning unsuitable advisers
- supporting wider redress efforts
Each of the investigations is complex and involved analysing significant volumes of evidence, interviews with key witnesses and reviews of customer files. We developed a tool (the DBAAT) to assess the suitability of advice provided by firms and individuals.
Completed enforcement actions
This table lists enforcement action taken to date and will be updated as we continue our work.
There may be significant redress due to consumers which will fall to the FSCS to pay. We are taking steps to maximise available redress by ensuring, where appropriate, that people we take action against pay money directly to the FSCS. This will ease the demand on the FSCS and ensure that the parties responsible for the wrongdoing pay redress.
| Name | Outcome | Publication |
|---|---|---|
|
Pembrokeshire Mortgage Centre Limited (in liquidation) |
Financial penalty of £2,354,331 |
|
| Lighthouse Advisory Services Limited | Public censure | |
|
Geoffrey Edward Armin Retirement and Pension Planning Services Limited (dissolved) |
Payment of £200,000 to be made to the FSCS Prohibition from performing Senior Management Functions and from providing advice on Pension Transfers |
|
|
Mark Antony Abley County Capital Wealth Management Limited (in liquidation) |
Payment of £106,100 to be made to the FSCS Prohibition from providing advice on Pension Transfers |
|
|
Paul Steel Estate Matters Financial Limited (in liquidation) |
Payment of £850,000 to be made to the FSCS and prohibition |
|
|
Denis Lee Morgan Pembrokeshire Mortgage Centre Limited (in liquidation) |
Prohibition from performing Senior Management Functions and from providing advice on Pension Transfers | |
|
Toni Fox CFP Management Limited (in liquidation) |
Financial penalty of £681,536 and prohibition Ms Fox has referred this matter to the Upper Tribunal |
|
|
David Brian Price CFP Management Limited (in liquidation) |
Financial penalty of £632,594 and prohibition Mr Price has referred this matter to the Upper Tribunal |
|
|
Keith Dickinson Mansion Park Limited (in liquidation) |
Payment of £70,000 to be made to the FSCS Prohibition from providing advice on Pension Transfers |
|
|
Andrew Allen Mansion Park Limited (in liquidation) |
Payment of £85,606 to be made to the FSCS Prohibition from providing advice on Pension Transfers |
|
|
Darren Reynolds Active Wealth (UK) Limited (in liquidation) |
Financial penalty of £2,212,316 and prohibition Mr Reynolds has referred this matter to the Upper Tribunal |
|
|
Andrew Deeney Active Wealth (UK) Limited (in liquidation) Fortuna Wealth Management Limited (in liquidation) |
Financial penalty of £397,400 and prohibition | |
|
Simon Richard Hughes S&M Hughes Limited (in liquidation) |
Payment of £158,600 to be made to the FSCS Prohibition from performing Senior Management Functions and from providing advice on Pension Transfers |
|
|
David Nigel Lewis West Wales Financial Services Limited (in liquidation) |
Payment of £26,800 to be made to the FSCS Prohibition from performing Senior Management Functions and from providing advice on Pension Transfers |
|
|
Susan Mary Jones West Wales Financial Services Limited (in liquidation) |
Payment of £40,888 to be made to the FSCS Prohibition from providing advice on Pension Transfers |
|
| Inspirational Financial Management Limited (in administration) | Financial penalty of £897,840 | |
|
William Hofstetter Inspirational Financial Management Limited (in administration) |
Payment of £40,000 to be made to the FSCS Prohibition from performing Senior Management Functions and from providing advice on Pension Transfers |
|
|
Arthur Jonathan Cobill Inspirational Financial Management Limited (in administration) |
Payment of £120,000 to be made to the FSCS Prohibition from providing advice on Pension Transfers |