The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has prevented a financial advisory firm involved in the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) scandal from disposing any of its assets .
This comes as the UK financial watchdog is looking to consult on a redress scheme for BSPS victims in March 2022.
It has already written to advice firms involved in the matter in December 2021 urging them not to dispose their assets and to keep adequate financial resources.
But the FCA said it was forced to intervene over AJH Financial Services due to concerns that the firm did not have enough funds to pay any potential compensation and “appears to have paid dividends rather than retaining the assets”.
The regulator added: “We will act to prevent firms from disposing of assets which may be required to pay redress.
“We will look to impose requirements where firms have not acted in accordance with the expectations in our ‘Dear CEO’ letter or have attempted to phoenix or put in place structures to avoid potential redress liabilities. We will continue to monitor firms who have advised on BSPS transfers and take action where necessary.”
AJH has the right to refer the watchdog’s decision to the upper tribunal.
