The ongoing damage to the advice sector from pension transfers sadly continues. The FCA has fined CFP management £1.3m for operating a seriously flawed pension transfer advice model, as New Model Adviser reports.
The firm had conducted over £390m of business in this area. Toni Fox and David Price, former directors of CFP Management Ltd (CFP), were fined £681,536 and £632,594 respectively for operating a ‘flawed pension advice process’ and have been banned.
One scoop from the same title, which falls just outside our usual seven-day review period, but is worth a mention is the news that LEBC had a potential £6m DB redress liability before its pre-packaged sale.
It is the sort of big corporate/distributor story that NMA excels at. These amounts will, of course, continue to add up. I think the big question remains whether it will fall to the FSCS.
FTAdviser reports that only half of people claiming the new state pension, which was introduced in April 2016, are receiving the full amount, according to government data analysed by later life mortgage broker Responsible Life.
This compares with almost three quarters (74%) of people who are claiming the old basic state pension who receive at least the 'full' rate.
The broker put in a Freedom of Information request to the Department for Work and Pensions. Smart work!
There has been some speculation that banks were being swifter to raise savings rates along with mortgage rates in the wake of the Consumer Duty’s implementation.
But perhaps not all as Financial Reporter relates.
“In its first public intervention, the FCA has asked nine banks and building societies to provide value assessments on its saving products. It follows concerns that interest rate rises are not being passed to customers and their savings accounts. In July, the FCA issued a 14-point action plan to ensure banks are offering better savings rate deals.”
One might ask whether this is the regulator edging closer to product and/or price regulation. It has always danced a fine line on the issue over the years with occasional declarations that it is not a price regulator. I would say the accurate answer is actually yes and no.
Some experts think the Duty may drive change in what you might call more core areas for advisers. The FCA’s thematic review on retirement income “has many crossovers” with its expectations around Consumer Duty, according to Aegon’s Steven Cameron.
This story certainly raised some eyebrows – the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries and the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association have published an events code of conduct to offer guidelines to attendees and to clarify what behaviour is expected and will not be tolerated at an event.
All very sensible of course no doubt, like the vast majority of attendees at awards, but will the foolish few pay any heed?
No reimbursements for anyone kicked out of their awards. Well. Quite!
It does seem that there is something of a regulatory clash happening off stage from the main business of the mortgage market as landlords, some of whom must be struggling, seek to cope with cost pressures according to Mortgage Strategy. Haringey Council has issued more than £200,000 in fines to landlords across the borough who have failed to licence their houses in multiple occupation. It may be the fringe end of the housing market, but you have to wonder if these properties are mortgaged.
