A damning report into the near-collapse of Equitable Life will highlight failings by government regulators and pave the way for billions of pounds in compensation to be paid out of the public purse, The Telegraph exclusive reveals.
The parliamentary ombudsman, Ann Abraham, will announce in a report due to be published next week that watchdog bodies were guilty of maladministration ahead of the demise of the world's oldest insurance company. More than a million customers lost up to 50% of their pensions and savings when the firm was brought to its knees in 2000 in one of Britain's biggest financial scandals. Equitable Life was forced to close its doors to new business after it admitted it had claimed customers' investments were worth £3bn more than the company's total assets. FEARS THAT FINANCIAL contagion could...
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