20 August 2008
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has released the
following press release in relation to the Barnsley based advsier
Darrell Mark Eaden:
"FSA bans financial adviser for pension transfers
failings"
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has banned Barnsley-based
sole trader Darrell Mark Eaden from being a senior manager for
failing to monitor effectively his pension transfer specialist.
This exposed customers to the risk of receiving unsuitable
advice.
Mr Eaden traded as Liberty Financial Consultants (now ceased
trading) and specialised in mortgages and investments. The FSA
found that, between May 2004 and March 2005, Mr Eaden:
- did not exercise due skill, care and diligence in managing the
business of Liberty. In particular, Mr Eaden failed to maintain an
appropriate level of understanding of pension transfers and to
adequately supervise and monitor the firm's pension transfer
specialist;
- did not take reasonable steps to ensure that Liberty's pension
transfer business was organised so that it could be controlled
effectively; and
- failed to take reasonable steps to ensure that Liberty's
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 at the FSA, said:
"Firms must have in place and operate effective systems to ensure
suitable advice is given to customers - this is a key part of
treating customers fairly. 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.
