Wolf banned from industry by FSA

by Richard Kilner

Story link: Wolf banned from industry by FSA

An insurance broker has been prevented from continuing with his day-to-day duties by the FSA after it was reported he had left clients uninsured.

Two insurance brokers reported the lack of insurance clients received from Richard Michael Wolf, director of Rotheville Insurance (based in Leeds, West Yorkshire) which acted as both an advisor on and seller of insurance.

Wolf’s actions were found not to be in accordance with FSA requirements, and he was also considered unfit to remain in the financial services industry due to his dishonest conduct. The FSA has confirmed that he is not able to work as an insurance broker any longer, nor can his firm (Rotheville) engage in regulated business.

Action was taken when two insurance brokers reported that Wolf had not given them clients’ insurance premiums, which, potentially, left the clients uninsured. The debt of clients’ premiums Wolf owed to a number of brokers was over £40,000 at one point.

It has also been uncovered that Wolf’s checks and balances were inadequate to protect customers, with no system in place to ensure that premiums were passed onto brokers on a regular basis or to check either that customers were insured or that they were due to renew their insurance.

The FSA’s head of retail enforcement, Jonathan Phelan, condemned Wolf’s treatment of his customers as it left his clientele at considerable risk.

Phelan added that stopping someone working in the financial services industry is one of the FSA’s most serious punishments but felt that the move was, in this case, entirely justified to protect both customers and the reputation of the market.