Here’s why
The Committees are today publishing a series of correspondence following up its report on the British Steel Pension Scheme, after it was announced that a successor to BSPS has been given the go ahead. As the Committee’s report was being published in mid-February, a number of BSPS members wrote to Committee Chair Frank Field with shocking testimony about the wholly unsuitable transfer advice they had received – some excerpts of that testimony are included in the letter to the FCA published today, along with responses from the FCA indicating how they intend to handle the evidence passed to them, and a further update on firms required to change or limit their advice activities. Also published are two letters on the status of one firm at the centre of the BSPS evidence, Active Wealth UK Ltd, who were the first of the firms involved to have their advice permissions changed, and who have now gone into liquidation.
Chair of the Committee, Rt Hon Frank Field MP, said: “This news brings welcome certainty to the BSPS members who opted for the new scheme. They should take reassurance from the sponsor’s commitment to ongoing support, and the safety net that the PPF provides. That certainty contrasts with the great anxiety faced by the minority of steelworkers conned into unsuitable investments by vulture advisers chasing no-transfer, no-fee payments.
“I also welcome the FCA’s latest update on the advice firms caught in their dragnet, but it is vital that the FCA looks not only at the specific firms that were active around British Steel – it must also look much more closely at any and all connected entities that seek to pick up where those firms left off.”
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