The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a stark warning to firms advising on domestic and international pension transfers after reports that some clients are being scammed or their funds transferred into unsuitable investments.
The Isle of Man Financial Services Authority (IoMFSA) has advised residents to tread carefully when making decisions about transferring or investing their pensions, following a rise in scams in the UK.
A former financial adviser has been sentenced to eight and a half years in prison after being found guilty of defrauding clients out of £4m (€4.6m, $4.8m).
Investors in the doomed Guernsey-based Providence Investment Funds have been told it is “highly unlikely” they will receive any money back, as a campaign group is set up on their behalf to target an FCA-regulated firm it claims is behind the funds’ promotion.
International Adviser revisits some of the biggest investment scams and scandals reported in 2016 as we look forward to the day when greater transparency delivers better client outcomes.
The UK government’s plans to tighten rules on transferring money out of pensions to tackle widespread fraud, has been described as “anti-consumer” by Rops provider Momentum Pensions, which warns the move will unfairly restrict transfers to overseas pensions.
The UK Government’s proposed ban on pensions cold-calling will deter scammers but must be just the start of a concerted effort to drive fraudsters out of the market, says AJ Bell.
The government’s plans to crack down on pension cold calling have been hailed as a “golden opportunity” to correct the UK’s “disastrous” rules that are as much use as a “chocolate teapot”, says Angela Brooks of Pension Life.
A sixth person has been charged by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for promoting and selling shares through a succession of four boiler room schemes.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged a former broker with running a fraudulent mutual fund scheme.
UK-based IFA firm Tenet must compensate a client for advising him to transfer his pension into the doomed high-risk Arch Cru fund, which lost investors up to £361m ($462m, €408m).
Pension liberation scams are increasingly being endorsed by FCA-regulated financial advisers, advocacy group Pension Life has warned.
