HL Deb 24 July 2000 vol 616 cc8-9WA
The Earl of Northesk

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many visits the Personal Investment Authority has made to independent financial advisers in the last 12 months for the purposes of:

  1. (a) ordinary compliance checks; and
  2. (b) pensions review monitoring,

and from those visits, how much money has been gathered in fines for breaches of the regulations in relation to:

  1. (a) ordinary compliance; and
  2. (b) pensions mis-selling. [HL 3298]

Lord McIntosh of Haringey

The number of visits the PIA has made to Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs) in the last 12 months to 30 June 2000, for the purposes of:

  1. (a) ordinary compliance checks is 1,216
  2. (b) pension review monitoring is 196.

No fines have been levied as a result of those visits, as IFAs visited during the last 12 months and subsequently referred for consideration for disciplinary proceedings have not yet completed the disciplinary process.

Disciplinary actions in respect of pension mis-selling are based upon a lack of progress in completing the pension review, which requires firms to review their pension sales and, where appropriate offer redress.

During the year ending 30 June 2000, fines were levied as the result of compliance visits undertaken before July 1999. Those fines were as follows.

  1. (a) fines levied on IFA firms for ordinary compliance failings were £693,750
  2. (b) fines levied on IFA firms for pension review failings were £701,750.