PIMFA continues to maintain concerns about British Steel Consumer Redress Scheme

28 November 2022

PIMFA continues to maintain concerns about British Steel Consumer Redress Scheme

PIMFA, the trade association for wealth management, investment services and the personal investment and financial advice industry, has welcomed the publication of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) policy statement regarding compensation for those enrolled in the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS). But PIMFA remains concerned about the total cost of the proposed compensation scheme and construction of the proposed tool to assess the adequacy of the advice provided in the past.

Simon Harrington, Head of Public Affairs at PIMFA, comments: “The publication of this policy statement should provide welcome clarity for those who were wrongly advised to transfer out their guaranteed benefits. It is right that those people are compensated and are given clear routes to ensuring they are done so in an efficient manner. We think this policy statement broadly achieves that.

“While clarity for consumers is important, we anticipate that a number of firms will be left uncertain of their exposure to this scheme. It is regrettable that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has not addressed valid concerns that have been raised by the industry generally. Those concerns centre on the construction of the Defined Benefit Advice Assessment Tool (DBAAT) and the ability of Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) to adequately adjudicate cases in a manner which gives due consideration to the technicalities and intricacies of pension transfer advice.

“We also continue to retain concerns that the total cost of the scheme – and associated claims upheld once advice has been found to be suitable by the firms – will be significantly higher than set out in the FCA’s revised cost benefit analysis. We would encourage the FCA to report against this in order to inform future cost benefit analyses and stress test the assumptions they currently have on this market in particular.”

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NOTES TO EDITORS

About PIMFA – the Personal Investment Management & Financial Advice Association

• PIMFA is the trade association for firms that provide wealth management, investment services and the investment and financial advice to everyone from individuals and families to charities, pension funds, trusts and companies.
• The sector currently looks after £1.65 trillion in private savings and investments and employs over 63,000 people.
• PIMFA represents both full and associate member firms. Full members provide a range of financial solutions including financial advice, portfolio management, as well as investment and execution services. They assist everyone from individuals and families to charities and pension funds, all the way to trusts and companies.  Associate members provide professional services to the PIMFA community.
• PIMFA  leads the debate on policy and regulatory recommendations to ensure that the UK remains a global centre of excellence in the wealth management, investment advice and financial planning arena. Our mission is to create an optimal operating environment so that its member firms can focus on delivering the best service to clients, providing responsible stewardship for their long-term savings and investments.
• PIMFA has made numerous recommendations to the FCA regarding the Future of Advice, the Future of Supervision and the FSCS levy – read more.
• PIMFA was created in 2017 as the outcome of a merger between the Association of Professional Financial Advisers (APFA) and the Wealth Management Association (WMA) with a history as a trade association since 1991 – read more.
• Find out more about PIMFA’s Diversity and Inclusion work – read more
• Further information can be found at pimfa.co.uk

Contact

For further information on this release or other press matters please contact:

Matthew West, PIMFA PR Manager – MatthewW@pimfa.co.uk, +44 (0)20 7382 0376

Sheena Gillett, PIMFA Communications & PR Director – sheenag@pimfa.co.uk, +44 (0)20 7011