Two advisers have today been banned from financial services for significant failings relating to about 2,000 pension transfers, which led to more than £50m being transferred to overseas property developments operated by Harlequin.
Advisers Timothy Hughes and Andrew Rees, of 1 Stop Financial Services, got 1,959 clients to transfer more than £122m from their pensions into unsuitable self-invested personal pensions to give them access to esoteric investments such as Caribbean property and diamonds. The FCA said Hughes and Rees failed adequately take reasonable steps to ensure their business: established customers' investment aims and objectives; assessed customers' attitude to risk; and ascertained customers' knowledge and experience in relation to financial products. They also failed to ensure clients u...
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