Classed as ‘enforcement actions’, Anthony Smith, Timothy Langman (both from Perspective Financial Management) and Ian Jones (Specialist Solutions) have been fined a total of more than £50,000 for various compliance failings. Both firms have already been in trouble with the FSA this year.
Smith, responsible for compliance, and Langman, responsible for training and competence, have been fined £20,000 and £15,000 respectively – discounted from £16,000 and £10,500 as they agreed to settle their cases during the investigation – and banned from advising on UCIS.
PFM has already been fined £49,000 in February this year for shortcomings in how it monitored pension switching advice.
Ian Jones, Specialist Solutions’ managing director, has been fined £20,000 (discounted to £16,000) and prohibited from holding any senior management role or advising on UCIS.
Specialist Solutions was fined £35,000 in April this year for failing to adequately assess whether customers were eligible to receive promotions for UCIS as well as failing to ensure that customers were given suitable advice to invest in them.
The FSA reviewed 20 UCIS case files and found nearly half of them resulted in retail customers receiving unsuitable advice.
Tom Spender, the FSA’s head of retail enforcement, said: “UCIS are rarely suitable for retail investors and we expect firms to know this. As such we take a dim view of failing to know how to promote or give suitable advice around the sales of complex investments.
“Many UCIS are characterised by a high degree of volatility, illiquidity or both and that means that – even when they are recommended – they are generally unsuitable for anything more than a small share of a portfolio.”
