The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) announced that it is currently investigating DC Financial Ltd and Abbey Lane Financial Associates Ltd.
Both firms are reportedly associated with claims regarding pension transfer advice given to members of the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS).
The UK lifeboat scheme said Swansea-based DC Financial Ltd stopped trading in March 2023. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) register says that DC Financial Ltd is no longer registered with the regulator as it is no longer appointed representative of any companies.
According to the FSCS, Sheffield-based Abbey Lane Financial Associates Ltd stopped trading in March 2023. Companies House filings show that the advice firm entered voluntary liquidation and Birmingham-based company Butcher Woods was appointed liquidator on 31 March 2023.
In February 2023, the advice firm was formally requested by the FCA to stop making “misleading” redress offers to ex-BSPS members.
This came after the UK regulator warned advice firms they should stop making unsolicited settlement offers to former members of the BSPS who are likely to be part of the redress scheme it has set up.
The FCA issued first supervisory notices to the firms after Abbey Lane “made offers of £100 to 82% of its clients who were BSPS members”.
BSPS
The FSCS said: “In 2017, many British Steel workers were advised to transfer out of their defined benefit pension into a defined contribution pension, known as a personal pension plan or a self-invested personal pension (Sipp).
“By transferring to a private pension arrangement, they would have lost the benefits already built up in the British Steel Pension Scheme. It may not have been realistic to achieve the same level of benefits from their new plan.
“The advice they received may not have been the best advice for them.”
There are currently five firms under investigation with the FSCS since the start of the year, this includes County Durham-based Green Gem Financial, Bridgend-based Wealthmasters Financial Management and wealth management firm WealthTek.
