The Financial Conduct Authority has banned financial adviser Daniel Thomas from working in the industry, and imposed on £742,000 fine for poor pension transfer advice.
Thomas was a director and adviser at DPT Financial Solutions Limited. Over a five year period he advised 53 clients about 63 transfers out of defined benefit pension schemes, and is believed to have earned more than £173,000 in fees on these transactions.
The FCA said Thomas repeatedly misled clients and pension providers about his professional qualifications, destroyed client records and failed to co-operate with the FCA’s investigation.
The firm was an ‘appointed representative’ — meaning a principal firm had responsibility for overseeing its actions. The FCA said Thomas provided misleading information to his principal firm about his involvement in the pension transfer cases.
The FCA said that it is not normally in consumers’ best interests to transfer out of DB schemes, because they provide valuable, guaranteed benefits which increase annually. It points out this why only advisers with specialist qualifications and the correct permissions can advise people on DB transfers.
While this is a decision notice from the FCA, Thomas has referred his case to the Upper Tribunal, where he will present his case. As a result the FCA says it will not impose these penalties until this tribunal has reviewed this evidence. But it adds that its findings reflect its investigation and how it considers Thomas’s behaviour should be characterised.
FCA executive director of enforcement and market oversight Therese Chambers says: “When you advise someone on their pension, you hold their future in your hands. Thomas recklessly betrayed that responsibility.
“We will not stop acting against those ignoring our rules and unfairly putting people and their hard-earned money at risk.”