In Focus: When things go wrong  

FCA censures Lighthouse over 'unsuitable' BSPS advice

Quilter’s chief executive officer, Steven Levin, said: “Although the relevant advice pre-dated our acquisition of Lighthouse, we have fulfilled our commitment to ensuring that Lighthouse has responded to this situation in a way that is consistent with our values.

"We are pleased that the FCA recognised our co-operation with its investigation and that we have proactively and promptly paid redress to affected customers.”

Article continues after advert

BSPS background

During 2017, BSPS members were asked to make decisions about their pensions as part of a restructure of the scheme.

About 8,000 members transferred out of the scheme, with transfers collectively worth about £2.8bn.

But concerns about the suitability of the transfers were soon raised, leading to an intervention from the FCA that resulted in a number of advice firms – key players in the debacle – stopping their transfer advice service, while others went out of business.

The debacle created a mountain of liabilities, which lawyers believe could end up costing the industry up to £300mn.

sally.hickey@ft.com