Financial Conduct Authority responds to Complaint Commissioner on British Steel Pension Scheme and cites £106m redress and enforcement against more than 20 firms and individuals

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its response to the Complaint Commissioner’s report on the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS), acknowledging losses suffered by former members after unsuitable advice and setting out changes it says it has implemented to reduce harm in the defined benefit pension transfer market. The response points to closer collaboration with The Pensions Regulator, the Pension Protection Fund and the Money and Pensions Service to improve intelligence sharing and identify defined benefit transfer risks more quickly. It also highlights increased collection of pension transfer data from advisory firms, a consumer tool to help people check whether they may have received unsuitable advice, and a ban on contingent charging for defined benefit pension transfers to reduce conflicts of interest. On redress, the FCA says that, working with the Financial Ombudsman Service and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, it helped more than 6,500 former members to complain, with at least GBP 106m offered to 1,870 former BSPS members, and that enforcement action has been taken against more than 20 individuals and firms where there was evidence of serious misconduct.