Chancellor puts pressure on pension providers with FCA to launch review June 17, 2015 The government is considering imposing a legal cap on the amount savers are charged to withdraw money from their pensions, chancellor George Osborne has said. Standing in for Prime Minister David Cameron at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) yesterday, Osborne said that Treasury is consulting to make sure that people are not charged excessive early exit [...]
Asia Resource Minerals hit with £4.65m FCA fine June 17, 2015 The financial regulator has slapped a £4.65m fine on Asia Resource Minerals (Arm) for breaching the listing rules. The firm was cited by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for having “inadequate systems and controls to comply with its obligations as a listed company”. This included failing to identify transactions valued at just over £8m. Georgina [...]
Financial Conduct Authority names Mark Steward as new top enforcer June 5, 2015 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has appointed Mark Steward as the new director of enforcement and market oversight. Steward joins from his position as head of enforcement at the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, and will step into the shoes of Tracey McDermott, who was recently promoted to head of the supervision division. Read [...]
Lloyds Banking Group fined £117m for PPI failings by the FCA June 5, 2015 Lloyds has been fined £117m over its handling of Payment Protection Insurance claims – the largest ever handed out by the FCA in relation to PPI. "Whilst our intentions were right, we made mistakes in our handling of some PPI complaints," admitted Lloyds chief Antonio Horta-Osorio. The taxpayer-owned bank was found to have failed in [...]
Eight men convicted over “very substantial” fraud after huge FCA investigation Operation Cotton June 1, 2015 Eight men have been convicted for their role in running a scam fund in which 110 investors lost more than £4.3m between them. The men operated three property investment companies through which investors were pressured into buying land “at a vastly inflated price, on the false promise of a substantial profit”. The salesmen lied [...]
FCA watchdog Martin Wheatley: I am not hunting for bankers’ scalps May 28, 2015 Top watchdog Martin Wheatley yesterday denied he wants to “put heads on sticks” or to go “scalp hunting” in his campaign to make banks and managers more accountable. In a firm defence of the plan to make bosses of failed banks prove they took reasonable steps to mitigate risks, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) chief [...]
Plevin v Paragon: FCA considers adopting new rules following landmark PPI case May 27, 2015 The FCA is considering whether to introduce new rules around PPI complaints following last year's ruling on the landmark Plevin v Paragon case. Last November the Supreme Court ruled that failing to disclose commission made the relationship between lender and borrower unfair in a case in which Mrs Plevin, a 59-year-old college lecturer, received [...]
FCA seeks record £75m fine from Keydata boss Stewart Ford over misselling claims, Ford to hit back with £650m high court claim May 26, 2015 The FCA is seeking record fines against three former managers of Keydata Investment Services, claiming the company missold complex products to consumers. The watchdog has fined former chief executive Stewart Ford £75m, former sales director Mark Owen £4m and former compliance officer Peter Johnson £200,000, and wants to ban them from working in regulated [...]
Choice, transparency and M&A: FCA outlines terms for investment banking probe May 22, 2015 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) says it will focus on wide-ranging subjects when it launches a study into the investment and corporate banking market. In a statement today, the FCA said its investigation, which will build on a wholesale sector competition review published in February, will look at "choice, transparency, bundling and cross-subsidisation in debt [...]
Forex-rigging scandal: Barclays given largest fine in FCA history May 20, 2015 Barclays has been fined £284.4m by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for failing to control business practices in its London foreign exchange operations. The bank's "inadequate and ineffective" control over its forex floor led to the biggest fine ever handed out by the FCA. Last year the bank opted out of a mass settlement in [...]