The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has imposed a fine of £2.17 million for failings by insurers Direct Line and Churchill, both of which are owned by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). According to the regulator, the firms failed to prevent files that the FSA had requested from being improperly altered. During the collation of 50 [...]
In its long-overdue report into the failure of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), the Financial Services Authority (FSA) comments on the role of shareholders in the bank’s disastrous acquisition of ABN AMRO. According to the regulator, RBS had the support of its institutional shareholders over its battle with Barclays for ownership of the Dutch bank, [...]
The Court of Appeal has dismissed appeals by Digital Satellite Warranty Cover and Satellite Services. The businesses, which are not registered with the Financial Services Authority (FSA), provided cover for Sky satellite TV equipment, in return for an insurance premium. Both firms described their offerings as “extended warranties” but in January, the FSA secured winding [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has published strict new rules on the sale of traded life policy investments (TLPIs) to UK retail investors. The regulator reckons TLPIs are “high risk, toxic products” because investors are effectively betting on when a particular set of US citizens will die. They are also known as “death bonds” because [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has appointed Sir Nicholas Montagu as the new chairman of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). He will succeed Sir Christopher Kelly who steps down in January 2012, after seven years in the role. Sir Nicholas is currently the chairman of the Aviva UK Life With-Profits Committee and a director of [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined John Folan £195,117 for insurance fraud and prohibited him from carrying on regulated financial services activities. The penalty comprises a £70,000 fine and a disgorgement of £125,117 which Mr Folan obtained through commission when working as a director and adviser at Brentwood-based Key Mortgage Associates. Between January 2008 [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has set out proposed new rules aimed at protecting policyholders with unit-linked and index-linked life insurance products, while taking account of new European requirements for insurers. Solvency II will bring new high-level principles around how insurers’ assets, including unit-linked and index-linked funds, must be managed. However, where individuals bear the [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has asserted itself in its Product Intervention role for the second time this week. The watchdog has issued new guidance on structured products, which it says are gaining popularity among retail investors in today’s low interest rate environment. However, having assessed seven providers of structured products (responsible for around 50% [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) have published proposed guidance on payment protection insurance (PPI) products. Both watchdogs are monitoring the market as it shifts away from the disastrous PPI offerings of the past and new products or product features are developed. These include short-term income protection and debt [...]
The packaged bank account, which commonly includes some kind of insurance cover, has attracted the attention of the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The regulator estimates that one in five UK adults currently hold this type of account which can come with range of benefits, from insurance to discounts on purchases. However, customers sometimes find that [...]
Pensions minister, Steve Webb, is proposing to introduce a code of practice for employers offering cash to encourage staff to move from defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC) pension arrangements. The minister is concerned that easing the transition from a DB to a DC scheme with a top up to the pension pot can [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) wants to force the firms it regulates to provide 100% redress to customers who have suffered financial loss, even if the loss was not caused by faulty advice, warns Reynolds Porter Chamberlain (RPC). The City law firm explains that as the law of “causation” stands, if a financial services firm [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is to restart its Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) funding review. The review began in October 2009 but was put on hold 12 months later due to uncertainties around the impact on the FSCS of UK regulatory reform and ongoing developments in the EU. However, HM Treasury has now published [...]
The British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) has come out in favour of the Financial Services Authority’s (FSA) proposed guidance on the selling of general insurance policies through price comparison sites. Aggregators are not currently subject of any specific FSA rules and BIBA has fully endorsed the new draft guidelines, highlighting its top issues as follows: [...]
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has published rules on platforms regulation in the light of Retail Distribution Review (RDR) objectives. In brief, the rules require: Platforms and other nominee companies to transfer, within a reasonable time and in an efficient manner, assets held on behalf of customers to another person, when requested. Platforms and other [...]
Fewer financial advisers are planning to leave the industry than at any time over the last two-and-a-half years, according to the latest intermediary research from Aviva. Despite forthcoming market changes including the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) and capital adequacy, only 7% of advisers expect to shut up shop, compared to 10% in December 2010 and [...]
Consumer Focus has highlighted “serious problems” in the Individual Personal Pensions (IPP) market and written to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) asking that further action be taken to tackle consumer detriment in the market. In a recent study the watchdog identified three major issues as follows: Some consumers are being advised to switch to different [...]
