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The FSA has banned financial adviser Darrell Eaden over pension transfers failings.

The regulator found that the Barnsley-based sole trader of Liberty Financial Consultants, which has now ceased trading, between May 2004 and March 2005 failed to maintain an appropriate level of understanding of pension transfers and to adequately supervise and monitor the firm’s pension transfer specialist.

The FSA claimed that he did not take reasonable steps to ensure that Liberty’s pension transfer business was organised so that it could be controlled effectively, and that he failed to take reasonable steps to ensure its pension transfer business, for which he was responsible, complied with the relevant requirements and standards of the regulatory system.

Jonathan Phelan, head of retail enforcement for the FSA, said: “Mr Eaden was responsible for ensuring that Liberty’s pension transfer specialist was effectively monitored, but he fell a long way short of achieving this. As a consequence he has been banned from being a senior manager.

“Our action should leave firms in no doubt that the FSA places great emphasis on the importance of adequate systems and controls, and individuals responsible for those systems and controls will be held accountable if they are not adequate.”

Martin Bamford, an IFA for Surrey-based Informed Choice, said: “Pension transfer advice is one of the FSA’s priorities and to give this type of advice you have to be a specialist.

“The FSA has taken more of these kinds of actions in the last few months, particularly in the mortgage market it has taken action. It is a lot keener to take action when it identifies failings, so I expect that to continue in the future.”