These crimes usually end up with prison sentences. However, if committed in this industry it is branded mis-selling, the culprits walk away and someone else pays for the crime.
We recently came across a client who had some shocking mortgage advice a few years ago. The only reason the mortgage was done was to earn the adviser some commission, and we estimate that this was in the region of £5,000 on a £122,000 mortgage. (The mortgage before the “advice” was £114,000, with the client getting £1,400 “cashback”).
The firm responsible is now in liquidation, (the second time for the directors in question), and the directors now have authorisation to trade under another name. The regulator, as well as not being able to regulate, actually protects the culprits as the police are not interested. This goes against all the morals of our society, but as long as the structure is available for wholesale fraud and theft, then nothing will change.
Nigel Tinsdale
Financial Adviser
Tinsdale Investment Management
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