Lloyd Pope, a director of failed advisory firm TailorMade Independent (TMI) has been fined over £23,000 by the FCA for failings which allowed clients to invest over £100 million of pension assets in high risk investments. These included green oil,…read more
PFS calls for PI insurance grace period during COVID-19 outbreak. Published May 2020
The Personal Finance Society (PFS) has called on the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and HM Treasury to grant financial advisers a four-month waiver if they need to renew their professional indemnity insurance (PII) during the coronavirus lockdown. The Society is…read more
Advisers campaign against rising regulatory costs. Published April 2020
Financial Advisers are being encouraged to write to their MPs to warn about the impact of increased regulatory costs and higher professional indemnity insurance (PII) premiums on the availability of independent financial advice. IFA David Penney of Penney Ruddy…read more
FCA targets pension transfer firms in crackdown. Published March 2020
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) wrote to over three quarters of the IFA firms active in the defined benefit (DB) pension transfer market about the quality of their advice last year. A freedom of information (FOI) request from consulting firm,…read more
Financial Ombudsman ramps up fees for 2020-21. Published February 2020
The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is planning to hike case fees for complaints about financial products and services by £100 to £650 from April 2020. At the same time, it is planning to double the levy it charges firms, up…read more
Court rejects challenge to Financial Ombudsman’s decision. Published January 2020
A woman who lost her Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) complaint has had her application for a judicial review of the decision thrown out by the High Court. Mrs Critchley took out a credit card with Halifax in 2002 – at…read more
The FCA targets pensions transfer advice firms. Published December 2019
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is writing to around 1,600 IFA firms in a crackdown on pension transfer business. The regulator is concerned that too many clients are being advised to transfer money out of defined benefit (DB) pension schemes. …read more
Government turns down new PII rules for IFAs following steel pension scandal. Published November 2019
The government has turned down a request from a Labour MP to change the professional indemnity insurance (PII) rules for Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs). It says the current model is “working well” for most firms. Stephen Kinnock, MP for Aberavon,…read more
Pension scheme trustees hit with maximum fines for governance failings. Published October 2019
Pension scheme trustees have been fined by The Pension Regulator (TPR) for failing to provide chair of trustees’ statements for defined contribution pension schemes. Pitmans Trustees, a professional trustee firm, and James Hay, a self-invested personal pension (SIPP) provider, have…read more
Accounting giant fails to block tax negligence case on limitation grounds. Published September 2019
Multinational accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has failed to stop a tax negligence claim going to trial. The firm tried unsuccessfully to argue that the case was brought after the six-year limitation period had expired. The claimants were trustees and beneficiaries…read more
