Married couple Kevin and Cheryl Neal ran the now-defunct Kevin Neal Associates Wealth Management (KNAWM).
The finance company had been incorporated to take over the wealth management business of a previous company, Kevin Neal Associates Limited, of which Alan Shearer was a client and which went into compulsory liquidation on 1 July 2013.
By May 2014, at least six decisions by the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), totalling £573,274 ($767,014, €654,387), had gone against Kevin Neal Associates Limited and KNAWM.
FCA steps in
The company’s previous insurer refused to settle the claims and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) had altered KNAWM’s permissions to ensure that it did not transfer away assets without its permission.
Despite this, between May and June 2014, KNAWM transferred £55,000 and two cars worth £22,120 to associated parties.
Both have now been banned from being directors, the husband for six years and the wife for four years, after taking assets from an insolvent company.
Insolvency Service chief investigator Mark Bruce says: “Mr and Mrs Neal plainly acted to improve their position, once the partnership was insolvent, while failing to honour either the prior decisions of the FOS or the protections put in by the FCA to stop such actions.”
“Such conduct will invariably lead to disqualification. This is a particularly blatant example of common misconduct,” he said.
The disqualifications are effective from 31 May.
