HM Treasury News Release
194/98 17 November 1998
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PATRICIA HEWITT RECOGNISES ACHIEVEMENTS OF EIGHT MORE
FIRMS
Firms continue to make progress towards completing the first
phase of the reviews of personal pensions mis-selling, and a
further eight have been removed from the Treasury's monthly list,
Economic Secretary Patricia Hewitt announced today.
The eight firms were removed on the advice of the Personal
Investment Authority ( PIA). Seven of them - Albany Life, Allied
Dunbar, Canada Life, Gan, National Westminster, Royal London and
Wesleyan - had time limits for review ending on 30 September.
The eighth, M&E Network, had a deadline of 30 June. All have now
been judged by the PIA to have met their targets. Ms Hewitt said:
"I welcome the obvious efforts now being made towards
completion of phase 1. It is encouraging to be able to
remove eight firms from the published list. However, 21
firms are still listed, and some still have a lot of work
to do. I will be looking to them all to devote every effort
to their reviews."
Of the 21 firms whose results are published today:
all but two have resolved over 75 per cent of their cases.
seven firms have now resolved over 90 per cent of their
cases.
The Minister stressed that firms must maintain their recent
progress and ensure that all phase 1 cases are completed by 31
December. She said:
"The pensions mis-selling scandal did untold damage to the
credibility of the industry and caused a lot of distress
for their customers. I want to see that credibility
restored. Redress for mis-sold customers must be agreed in
line with the regulators' timescale, which means all firms
completing their reviews by the end of the year."
Ms Hewitt reminded the industry that offering redress is not the
end of the process, and reiterated her call for all firms to
follow up case reviews by delivering redress swiftly. She
emphasised that the PIA would have her full support in its
monitoring work, and in any action taken against laggards.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1.The Economic Secretary published the figures in response to
a Parliamentary Question from Jackie Lawrence MP [Preseli
Pembrokeshire].
2.The former Economic Secretary, Helen Liddell, said in
November 1997 that firms which have met their targets will have
their names removed from the list published by the Treasury. The
eight firms mentioned will join the 12 companies taken off the
list in July (Treasury news release 116/98). These were: AXA
Equity & Law, Barclays Life, Britannic Assurance, Commercial
Union, Godwins, Guardian, Lloyds TSB, Midland Bank, Norwich
Union, Prudential, Royal & Sun Alliance and United Assurance.
3.The Personal Investment Authority (PIA) has levied fines
related to pensions mis-selling. These include:
Nov 98 Royal & Sun Alliance 225,000
Nov 98 Raynes Hodder Davison 10,000
Nov 98 Interdependence 175,000
Oct 98 IFA Network 250,000
Oct 98 Sedgewick Noble Lowndes 100,000
Jul 98 Minet Consultancy Services 250,000
Jun 98 J&H Marsh and McLennan 200,000
Jun 98 Lincoln Assurance 70,000
Jun 98 Financial Options 400,000
Apr 98 Sun Life of Canada 600,000
Mar 98 Brittanic Assurance 525,000
Feb 98 Countrywide 250,000
Jan 98 London & Manchester 525,000
Jan 98 Cox Hepburn Financial Services 15,000
Dec 97 Ward Consultancy 20,000
Dec 97 Albany Life 375,000
Oct 97 Moran Webb Insurance 15,000
Sep 97 Friends Provident Life Office 450,000
Sep 97 DBS Financial Management 425,000
Aug 97 M&E Network 100,000
Jul 97 Lincoln Independent 75,000
Apr 97 Berkeley Independent Advisors 70,000
4. 222 small fines have also been levied, mainly on Independent
Financial Advisors. At 10 November 1998, these amounted to #5.6
million.
5.The PIA have today taken disciplinary action against a
further 20 firms and issued fines totalling #76,000 and expelled
one firm. Further details are available from the FSA Press Office
on 0171 676 3262.
6.If you have access to the Internet, you can find this news
release and other
Treasury information at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk
PROGRESS BY PENSIONS FIRMS IN RESOLVING CASES OF PERSONAL
PENSIONS MIS-SELLING IN THE PERIOD TO THE END OF OCTOBER 98
A B C D E F G H
50-75% OF CASES
RESOLVED
Countrywide 5,205 2,644 351 202 149 121 2 57
DBS 2,410 914 939 225 714 514 21 69
OVER 75% OF
CASES RESOLVED
IFA Network 382 119 167 112 55 55 14 75
Burns Anderson 1,278 435 612 242 371 292 23 76
Financial
Options 549 330 134 31 72 57 10 76
Windsor Life 9,645 4,104 4,608 326 4,282 3,532 37 83
Abbey Life 18,152 6,434 9,696 1,307 8,389 7,408 41 83
Sun Life of
Canada 28,993 11,163 14,722 2,645 12,077 10,636 37 84
Lincoln National 13,581 2,218 10,423 1,409 9,014 7,824 58 84
London and
Manchester 8,568 1,578 6,484 703 5,781 5,080 59 86
Standard Life 7,466 901 5,876 1,289 4,587 4,312 58 87
Hill Samuel 6,120 914 4,818 712 4,106 3,742 61 88
Colonial 8,728 3,149 5,161 606 4,555 3,933 45 88
Sedgwick 16,884 9,824 5,512 1,865 3,647 3,255 19 89
CIS 44,681 7,745 36,121 14,132 21,989 18,425 41 90
Berkeley
Independent 186 123 47 32 15 13 7 90
Friends
Provident 7,120 1,327 5,414 828 4,586 4,315 61 91
Hogg Robinson 2,324 861 1,381 472 909 799 34 92
Equitable Life 7,628 1,967 5,400 1,816 3,584 3,351 44 94
Pearl 47,541 4,640 41,991 5,912 36,079 34,186 72 94
Legal &
General 37,044 15,251 21,321 1,993 19,328 17,726 48 94
A: cases identified as requiring review
B: of A, cases where investor was informed that information gained
during assessment excluded cases from review
C: number of assessments completed
D: cases where the investor has been informed that no redress is
due.
E: cases where redress has been offered
F: cases where redress has been accepted.
G: cases where redress has been accepted as a percentage of cases
identified for review ((F/A)x100).
H: cases completed, including exclusions, as a percentage of cases
identified for review (((B+D+F)/A)x100).
# = pounds sterling