‘Heavy penalties’
FCA-regulated firms and those associated with DB reporting could be “exposed to very heavy penalties and the restitution of client funds” Searle explained.
“If the report was failing to meet certain criteria introduced in April 2015 then the client has the ability to revert to the report writing company and demand restitution to the tune of any losses which have occured from the DB transfer along with the report writing fee levied by the adviser,” he said.
Those unsatisfied with their TVAS reports, including the correct critical yields, can lodge a complaint with the UK’s Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) in a bid to get compensation.
Mis-selling opportunity
Meanwhile, Searle believes lawyers in the UK may see the clampdown into international pensions as “their next big mis-selling opportunity”.
“No doubt that the regulatory lawyers in the UK will see this as their next big mis selling opportunity to take on and will be looking for clients who have transferred a DB Scheme since April 2015,” he said.
