Defined BenefitApr 23 2018

British Steel IFA leaves pension market

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British Steel IFA leaves pension market

Pembrokeshire Mortgage Centre, one of the financial advice firms which voluntarily gave up its transfer permissions in the wake of the British Steel scandal in December, has pulled out of the pension market.

The firm, which trades as County Financial Consultants, no longer has permissions for operating in the pension market, according to its entry in the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) registry.

Pembrokeshire is now advising on investments, except on pension transfers and pension opt outs, the webpage reads.

The FCA requirement to cease all DB pension transfer business, which is still on the register entries of other firms which submitted a voluntary requirement to the regulator in the wake of the steelworkers’ pension saga, is no longer there.

The firm has been approached for comment.

Members of the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) had until 22 December to decide whether to move their defined benefit (DB) pension pots to a new plan being created, BSPS II, or stay in the current fund, which will be moved to the Pension Protection Fund.

The scheme has about 130,000 members of which 43,000 are deferred, which means transferring out of their pension is an option for them.

FTAdviser reported in November that several steelworkers appeared to be transferring out their pensions after being lured by cheap deals by unregulated introducer firm Celtic Wealth Management & Financial Planning, which then referred the clients to advice firm Active Wealth.

The firm, the first one to be stripped of its transfer permissions, has entered into liquidation.

In the meantime, a group of steelworkers in Port Talbot has instructed a solicitor firm to pursue a legal case against all parties involved in the pension transfer scandal.

The regulator has announced that it will be collecting data from all financial advice firms which hold pension transfer permissions during this year.

In January, the watchdog sent a letter to all firms holding pension transfer permissions revealing the red flags the regulator will be looking for when it enters advisers' offices.

maria.espadinha@ft.com