Mr. Adrian Douglas, Mr. Liam Martin, and Mr. Frank Oxberry have all referred their Decision Notices to the Upper Tribunal. These notices reflect the FCA’s view of their conduct and the actions it believes should be taken. However, no action will be enforced until the Tribunal makes its decision, which will be publicly available on its website.

The Tribunal will review whether the FCA’s decision to impose financial penalties or prohibition orders is appropriate, providing directions to the FCA based on its findings.

Mr. Alec Cuthbert, who agreed to settle his case, has not referred the FCA’s decision to the Tribunal. His Final Notice includes criticisms of Mr. Oxberry, who disputes the claims and has referred the matter to the Upper Tribunal for further review.

The FCA has announced its decision to ban two financial advisers and two partners from St Martin’s Partners LLP (SMP) from working in financial services, imposing a collective fine of £590,544. The four individuals were found responsible for a pension transfer advice model that jeopardized the guaranteed retirement benefits of their clients.

Between October 2015 and July 2016, SMP’s advice model put 547 customers at significant risk of transferring out of defined benefit pensions into investments that were likely unsuitable, including high-risk ventures such as hotel developments in Cape Verde, offered by The Resort Group Plc.

Many customers were introduced to SMP through ‘introducer’ firms, such as First Review Pension Services Ltd (FRPS), which is a subsidiary of The Resort Group. The FCA noted that SMP was aware of the connection between FRPS and The Resort Group.

SMP’s advice model failed to gather the necessary information to properly assess whether a pension transfer was suitable for the customer, and there was no intent to make such assessments.

Adrian Douglas and Liam Martin, both qualified pension advisers, played key roles in developing and implementing the flawed advice model at the Essex-based firm. Meanwhile, SMP’s partners, Mr. Oxberry and Mr. Cuthbert, were responsible for overseeing the firm and its advisers but did not ensure that due diligence was conducted on FRPS or the 16 other introducer firms involved in the model.

In November 2016, a requirement was introduced that stopped SMP from continuing to use this advice model.

Therese Chambers, Joint Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA, stated:

“People need to trust the advice they receive about their pensions. However, these four individuals put SMP’s customers at risk of losing guaranteed retirement income for high-risk investments like overseas hotel developments. They gained financially while putting their customers in harm’s way.

“There was a reckless disregard for customers’ financial situations, their retirement needs, and how their existing benefits compared to the alternatives being proposed. It is essential that the FCA takes action to prevent these individuals from working in the financial sector and impose penalties.”

The FCA has fined Mr. Oxberry £241,869, Mr. Martin £128,356, and Mr. Douglas £128,356, and has banned them from working in financial services. All three have referred the FCA’s decisions to the Tribunal.

Mr. Cuthbert has been fined £91,963 and also banned from the financial services industry. He has settled his case and has not referred the FCA’s decision to the Tribunal.

SMP has since entered liquidation. To date, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has paid out over £13.4 million in compensation to SMP clients who suffered losses due to the advice they received.