FCA bans and fines two individuals for pension advice failings

[Legal Beagles]

Lloyd Pope and Peter Legerton, former directors of advisory firm TailorMade Independent Ltd, have been banned from senior positions in financial services by the Financial Conduct Authority.

http://www.fca.org.uk/news/fca-bans-...dvice-failings

[Amethyst]

Re: FCA bans and fines two individuals for pension advice failings

"Pope and Legerton exposed customers to risky investments without considering if these products met their needs. Their actions mean many customers face losing all of their hard earned pension funds and fell woefully short of the standards we expect of senior individuals."

TMI provided advice to customers on transferring their existing pension funds into unregulated investments such as green oil, biofuels, farmland and overseas property via SIPPs. Between 2010 and 2013, 1,661 customers invested £112,420,985 in these investment products, many of which were not typically permitted by their existing pension schemes.

As directors with responsibility for the management and oversight of TMI, Pope and Legerton should have ensured that TMI considered the suitability of the investment products for customers but failed to do so.

They were also responsible for managing a number of conflicts of interest – including one created by commission payments to Legerton which he received when these investment products were sold to customers directly or through an unregulated firm which introduced customers to TMI for SIPP advice. During the relevant period Legerton’s total income from TMI was £300,567.

These payments created a conflict of interest and so should have been identified, and then disclosed to customers. However, no adequate disclosure was made.

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