Fri, Jan 3, 2020

Nick Bayley Speaks to FT Adviser About Potential Defined Benefit Mis-selling Scandal

Nick Bayley, Managing Director in Duff & Phelps Compliance and Regulatory Consulting practice, spoke to the FT Adviser to warn against the potential of defined benefit (DB) mis-selling.

The FCA is cracking down on the DB sector, as it is believed there could be cases of mis-sold DB re-emerging since the British Steel pension scheme scandal in 2017. Nick warns, “with interest rates remaining low, the huge defined benefit transfer marker will remain a major regulatory focus in 2020 and the FCA will likely confirm its proposed ban on contingent charging, which it sees as an unmanageable conflict of interest.”

Nick continues, “If the market turn in 2020 and those who were badly advised to transfer out of their gilt-edged defined benefit schemes realise they may have made a big mistake, this will likely become the next mis-selling scandal.” He comments “there must be a role for the broad- based delivery of personalised financial guidance to the mass market.”

Read the full article here.