1 of 2


Warning Notice Statement 23/1






1.1
The Financial Conduct Authority (“the FCA”) gave the following two individuals
warning notices on 28 September 2022 proposing to take action (being the
imposition of financial penalties) in respect of the conduct summarised in this
statement.

•
An individual (Individual A) working as a partner whilst an approved person
at the Firm; and

•
An individual (Individual B) working as a partner whilst an approved person
at the Firm.

IMPORTANT: A warning notice is not the final decision of the FCA. The
individual has the right to make representations to the Regulatory Decisions
Committee (RDC) which, in the light of those representations, will decide on
the appropriate action and whether to issue a decision notice. The RDC is a
Committee of the FCA board which decides whether the FCA should give
certain statutory notices described as within its scope by the FCA’s Handbook.

If a decision notice is issued, the individual has the right to refer the matter to
the Upper Tribunal which would reach an independent decision on the
appropriate action for the FCA to take, if any.

If either the RDC or the Upper Tribunal decides that no further action should
be taken, the FCA will publish a notice of discontinuance provided it has the
individual’s consent.

1.2
The following is a summary of the reasons why the FCA gave the individuals
warning notices:

•
The FCA considers that the individuals engaged in reckless conduct that
demonstrates that they lack integrity.

•
The conduct took place between 1 October 2015 and 31 July 2016 (“the
Relevant Period”).

1.3
In particular, the FCA considers that, during the Relevant Period:

•
Individual A and Individual B recklessly permitted the Firm to operate a
seriously flawed advice model for defined benefit pension transfers (“the
Pension Transfer Model”) in partnership with an unauthorised introducer firm
(“the Introducer”). The Firm failed to gather sufficient information from
clients, or take into account information on the onward investment scheme,
in order to provide suitable pension transfer advice.
•
Individual A and Individual B failed to assess the obvious deficiencies of the
Pension Transfer Model and the risks of detriment it posed to the Firm’s
clients, and failed to ensure that the Firm performed sufficient and adequate
due diligence on introducers and the investments which they promoted to
clients.
•
Individual A and Individual B failed to respond to warning signs they received
in respect of the obvious deficiencies of the Pension Transfer Model and the
risks of detriment it posed to the Firm’s clients.
•
Individual B failed to address the risk that clients introduced to the Firm by
the Introducer would be encouraged to transfer out of their defined benefit
pension schemes and invest in high-risk, illiquid and unregulated investments
which were unlikely to be suitable for them, notwithstanding the obvious
indications he received of the Introducer’s material financial interest in
promoting those investments.

1.4
The FCA considers that the individuals’ respective conduct amount to a failure to
comply with regulatory requirements aimed at ensuring that customers received
suitable advice and were treated fairly.