Upper Tribunal upholds FCA decision to ban advice firm CEO

The Tribunal also directed the FCA to impose a fine of £60,000 for failing to ensure that TMI complied with its obligations under the regulatory regime.

Between January 2010 and January 2013, TMI provided advice to 1,661 customers who were considering transferring or switching their pension funds via self-invested personal pensions.

The Tribunal found that TMI’s customers were given "wholly unsuitable advice" to transfer pension benefits into a SIPP which was to be invested in either risky overseas property investments.

The Tribunal also found that Mr Burns had a significant financial interest in the outcome of the unsuitable advice TMI was giving to customers.

He co-owned and co-directed an unregulated introducer, also operating under the 'TailorMade' name, which referred clients to TMI. The introducer was paid significant amounts of commission by the provider of the alternative investment product concerned when TMI advised a customer to transfer their pension into a SIPP, and the customer subsequently invested in that alternative investment following the pension transfer.

Typically, the customer was not informed either by TMI or the introducer of the payment of this commission or its amount.

To date, compensation totalling over £55.6 million has been paid by the FSCS in relation to claims upheld against TMI. This does not cover all the losses suffered by investors, which the FSCS assesses at more than £106.5 million.

Mark Steward, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: "Mr Burns failed to ensure that TMI managed its conflicts of interest, benefiting financially from his role as shareholder and director at an unregulated introducer alongside his regulated role, to the detriment of his customers. Our action sends a strong message that failing to manage conflicts of interest fairly and disclose them clearly is completely unacceptable."