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The FSA has
banned a sole trader from being a senior manager after charging
him with negligence after finding him unable to monitor his pension
transfer specialist effectively.
The regulator said the move was necessary in order to avoid “exposing
customers to the risk of receiving unsuitable advice”.
Barnsley-based Darrell Mark Eaden, who traded as the now defunct
Liberty Financial Consultants, specialised in mortgages and investments.
However, a Financial Services Authority (FSA) investigation conducted
between May 2004 and March 2005 found that Eaden did not exercise
“due skill, care and diligence” in managing the Liberty
business and overseeing the pension transfer business, for which
he was responsible.
The FSA said that, in particular, Eaden failed to both maintain
an appropriate level of understanding of pension transfers and adequately
monitor the firm’s pension transfer specialist. Eaden was
also accused of failing to ensure that the pension transfer business
complied with the relevant requirements and standards of the regulatory
system.
Jonathan Phelan, head of Retail Enforcement at the FSA, said that
firms must have effective systems in place to ensure suitable advice
is given to customers as it was “a key part of treating customers
fairly”.
“Mr Eaden was responsible for ensuring that Liberty’s
pension transfer specialist was effectively monitored,” said
Phelan, “but he fell a long way short of achieving this.”
Phelan added that the FSA’s action should “leave firms
in no doubt that the FSA places great emphasis on the importance
of adequate systems and controls. Individuals will be held accountable
if they are not adequate.”
- Pensions
Age August 2008
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