FCA fines update 2022

The previous year recorded a near four fold increase in FCA fines to a staggering £577 million on which the majority were levied in the closing months of the year.

So far in 2022 the FCA have levied £24,640,860 in fines with GAM International topping the list at £9,103,523.

Interestingly the Financial Ombudsman Service have reported in Q4 2021/22 they received 69,932 new enquiries and 37,457 fresh complaints about financial products. On average they upheld 40% of complaints.

The British Steel mis selling scandal continues to be a focus in 2022 with the FCA intervening to remind potential victims that they need to contact their adviser within 6 years of the initial advice.

Last year saw the FCA fine the “seriously incompetent” pension adviser £1.3m over 183 suitable transfers for British Steel workers.

The next big mis selling scandal?

City lawyers are gearing up to make a wave of claims for mis sold crypto investments. The FCA have reminded consumers that there are very little consumer protections for those who buy non fungible tokens (NFTs) and crypto assets, and they are not eligible for protection with the FSCS.

Jencap’s John Bull warns that financial penalties do not reflect the entire arsenal the FCA has when it comes to punishing errant firms, “in addition to curtailing certain permissions, banning bad players and withdrawal of authorisation, for smaller firms particularly, the costs are almost unmeasurable”.

Areas that will continue to be of interest in 2022

• Anti-money laundering
• Marketing of high-risk investments
• The Appointed Representative sector
• The British Steel redress scheme
• Consumer Duty

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