Three directors – two of them IFAs – have been fined and disqualified as directors over a £44m SIPP mis-selling scheme.
Hundreds of investors lost a total of at least £44m in the SIPP-based scheme.
Aiden Henderson, 40, of Olney, Andrew Page, 61, of Shrewsbury and Thomas Ward, 61, of Romford have all been disqualified as directors following their part in the pension mis-selling ripoff.
The mis-selling took place between January 2014 and July 2015. It began while Mr Henderson worked at financial advisers Henderson Carter Associates Ltd and subsequently when Mssrs Page and Ward both worked at adviser firm Financial Page Ltd.
Mr Henderson and Mr Page were independent financial advisers, while Mr Ward was a director at Financial Page Ltd, although he was not registered as such.
In May, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) prohibited them from working in the financial services sector and imposed fines. Mr Thomas Ward was fined £416,558, Mr Page was fined £321,033 and Mr Henderson was fined £179,179. Two others were also fined.
The three directors are now additionally disqualified from acting as directors of any company in any sector without permission from the courts.
The Insolvency Service said the three directors advised clients to transfer their pensions funds into Self-Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs) but failed to “adequately explain” to clients that their money was then being loaned to high-risk investments in Mauritius. The investments were then no longer subject to regulation by UK authorities.
The Insolvency Service said the three had ignored “blatant conflicts of interest.”
Both firms received referrals through Hennessy Jones Ltd, which had a significant financial interest in the SIPPs, and had also designed the advice process the firms used.
Financial Page Ltd went into liquidation in July 2017 and Henderson Carter Associates Ltd went into liquidation in February 2017.
The total compensation claim made through the Financial Service Compensation Scheme was £44.1m however the actual losses of clients are likely to be much larger because the FSCS caps individual claims.
Following a trial, 10-year Disqualification Orders were made against Andrew Page and Thomas Ward on 30 September. Their bans are both effective from 21 October.
On 23 November, the Secretary of State accepted a 10-year disqualification undertaking from Aiden Henderson and ended legal proceedings. His ban is effective from 15 December.
The disqualifications prevent them from directly, or indirectly, becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.
Rob Clarke, chief investigator at the Insolvency Service, said: “Customers need to be able to have full trust in their financial advisers and receive proper and complete information regarding the risks to their money.
“Yet each of these directors disregarded the individual financial and personal circumstances of their clients and turned a blind eye to blatant conflicts of interest, preferring instead to prioritise their own financial gain.
“They have caused hundreds of people to lose money and failed to run their business in line with statutory obligations designed to ensure the provision of objective, independent advice, so they should not be surprised that they are now subject to lengthy bans.”
