Hargreaves Lansdown hit by £300,000 FSA fine

The SGP offered investors access to zero dividend preference shares, which until 2000 offered relatively stable investments, which warranted the “low risk” identified in the marketing material. However, by 2001 the structure of many of the splits in which SGP was invested had changed dramatically, the FSA says, with increases in gearing and cross-holdings in other splits becoming more prominent. These changes substantially increased the risk associated with SGP, yet Hargreaves failed to sufficiently advise customers about the changing risk level through its quarterly bulletins. ”Har...