The FCA has banned financial adviser Daniel Thomas from working in financial services and fined him £742,700 for “recklessly” giving defined benefit pension transfer advice he was neither qualified nor allowed to give.
Thomas, who was a director and financial adviser at DPT Financial Solutions, advised 53 clients about 63 transfers out of defined benefit pension schemes over the course of five years and is believed to have earned more than £173,000 in fees.
The regulator said Thomas repeatedly misled clients and pension providers about his professional qualifications, destroyed client records and failed to co-operate with the FCA’s investigation.
DPT Financial Solutions was an appointed representative of Quilter Financial Services. As the principal firm, Quilter was responsible for overseeing Thomas’s actions but he provided misleading information to the firm about his involvement in the pension transfer cases.
The FCA noted that is not normally in consumers’ best interests to transfer out of defined benefit pensions because they provide valuable, guaranteed benefits which increase annually, which is why only advisers with specialist qualifications and the correct permissions can advise people on whether to transfer out.
Therese Chambers, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: “When you advise someone on their pension, you hold their future in your hands.
“Mr Thomas recklessly betrayed that responsibility. We will not stop acting against those ignoring our rules and unfairly putting people and their hard-earned money at risk.”
Thomas has referred his Decision Notice to the Upper Tribunal where he will present his case. The FCA will take no action against him until the Tribunal reaches its decision.
