Equitable Life policyholders look more likely to get compensation after a coalition Government announcement. (more…)

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Misleading marketing material for the Standard Life Pension Sterling Fund attracted a £2.45m fine from the FSA. The 98,000 retail pension customers invested in the Fund risked unexpected capital losses as a result of the material. (more…)

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Aviva / Norwich Union policyholders finally get a reattribution offer but at £500m it’s just half of what it was last year.  Aviva say this is a flexible payout and will change to reflect rises or falls in the value of the inherited estate.  It claims 90 percent of eligible policyholders will receive between £200 and £1,150 while the remaining policyholders will receive higher payments.  Payouts are expected to start in November 2009. (more…)

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Beleaguered Equitable Life victims will get new support from the formation of  The Justice for Equitable Life Policyholders Parliamentary Group.  This is an all-party group of 20 MP’s who believe the Government is wrong not to compensate policyholders affected when Equitable Life nearly collapsed in 2000.  The Government has said it will only compensate those policyholders facing financial hardship. (more…)

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The Norwich Union inherited estate lost 33 per cent of its value,  falling from 2.1 billion to £1.4 billion according to preliminary results released by Aviva.  This huge fall in value was blamed on “substantial reductions in the value of equity and property investments.” (more…)

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The FSA’s latest consultation paper on compensation and redress payments from With Profits Inherited Estates will disappoint many as it now favours shareholders at the expense of policyholders. (more…)

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The FSA has warned insurers they must be fair to with profits customers when cutting fund values and bonus payments. (more…)

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Life insurers are facing the possibility of new, stricter rules governing financial reporting. The rules deal with market consistent embedded value and are more rigorous than those currently used. There is concern from insurers that they could substantially cut the value of some companies. (more…)

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In the latest stage of its Retail Distribution Review (RDR), the FSA outlined how it will target mis-selling by forcing a clearer distinction between sales people and financial advisers. (more…)

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Two firms have been fined for a number of failures connected to sales of geared traded endowment policies (geared TEP’s). These are the first acts of enforcement since the FSA began a targeted programme examining advice and sales processes of firms recommending geared traded endowment policies. (more…)

Technorati Tags: FSA, gearing, investment, leverage, risk, TEP, traded endowment