TTF Blog: 03 September 2021 - Transparency Task Force

MPs court views of financial watchdog's staff - how is it doing?

by Alex Varley-Winter, TTF’s Head of Media Relations & Investigative Reporting

“The time is right to give employees past and present of the Financial Conduct Authority a chance to share their opinion of the regulator,” announced Peter Gibson MP today.

Gibson chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Fairer Financial Services, for which Transparency Task Force serves as Secretariat. Over the summer we have been calling for views of the FCA from all its stakeholders.

The suggestion that MPs directly ask staff for their views comes from a watchdog insider who contacted TTF to make the suggestion. You can see the Call For Evidence about the watchdog here.

Any new opinions will add to existing research. “As at the end of August, we had already received 85 responses,” Gibson explains “from victims of financial servies scams and misconduct, SME owners alleging mistreatment by banks, mortgage prisoners, whistleblowers and other significant stakeholders.”

The APPG’s deadline has been extended to October to allow for a larger cohort of stakeholders to hear about the research. It runs as follows:

Question Set A, for victims of alleged pension and investment scams – Download here

Question Set B, for victims of bank misconduct toward SMEs – Download here

Question Set C, for victims of financial services misconduct from Payments Institutions or other non investment scams – Download here

Question Set D, for Mortgage Prisoners – Download here

Question Set E, for financial services whistleblowers – Download here

Question Set F, for other stakeholders – Download here

Question Set G, for current and former Financial Conduct Authority employees – Download here

Why now, and why does it matter?

Members of the public are often at their lowest point when they reach out to the FCA. Its performance for them is crucial. Pauline Creasey, who lost her life savings of more than half a £million in the Premier FX money transfer scandal lamented to TTF Blog that “Consumers have nowhere else to go.” UK police still often fails to investigate financial misconduct, crime or grotesque mishap, especially if it runs across jurisdictions. For victims of complex financial wrongdoing or crime, it is too often then the case that all paths lead to the FCA. So, how is it doing?

Copping-out on the cops

Alarming reports recently indicated that the regulator fails even to monitor the referrals it receives from police. According to a Freedom of Information request submitted by the Telegraph, the City of London Police repeatedly warned the FCA about potential fraud in Blackmore Bond in 2018. The firm later collapsed, losing mini-bond investors more than £40M. Beyond that first report in 2018, the police reportedly warned the regulator on 44 other occasions before Blackmore Bond collapsed. The FCA, meanwhile, has claimed that it did not receive any warnings about Blackmore Bond until February 2020.

Why the discrepancy? Does the watchdog actually evaluate what the police feed in?

Peter Gibson MP raised the case to Parliament this summer, after Transparency Task Force member Paul Carlier helped to amplify what Gibson regards as “irrefutable evidence” that the FCA was failing to regulate effectively and is “not functioning as parliament wishes”.

Who is measuring ‘Transformation’?

The APPG’s Call for Evidence follows a spate of other recent scandals that cast further doubt on the watchdog’s performance for consumers. The London Capital and Finance Scandal is key among these: retail investors in “mini-bonds” lost more than £230m in the late 2010s while the watchdog was shooting blanks. The Treasury Select Committee has since recognised that a change in the FCA’s ‘culture’ is necessary to protect consumers and financial markets.

But despite promises of change at the FCA, I reported last month on whistleblower statistics that also appear less than encouraging, – the majority of City whistleblowers have been held in a backlog at the watchdog all year, seeing no action, a metric that has appeared relatively unchanged for several years now.

Knowledge as power: filling the void

The APPG’s Call for Evidence could break with a sorry norm of Parliamentary research – that it is rarely noticed by the right people.  An egregious example can be found in the Government’s consultation on ‘rogue landlords’. This has received no response “25 months after comments were initially requested and 22 months after the exercise closed,” as LandlordZone reported in August. It is not as if there isn’t a problem with criminal landlords in the UK – independent research indicated the scale of that problem only last year. But in housing as in financial services, vulnerable consumers tend not to hear about the research that could alter policy or change their lives.

On TTF’s patch, the FCA often consults its small consumer panel. Thirteen people, tasked to research and represent consumer interests to the regulator. The modestly-funded panel does an enormous amount of work on consultations – but its Annual Report does not reveal any assessment, quantitative or qualitative, of what experiences people are having with the FCA. This is a clear gap in knowledge in the UK, and parliamentarians have been urged to fill in the blanks. Watch this space.

Press Timeline of relevant articles:

21 August 2021 – ‘She groomed me for £10,000’: scandal at FSCS as employee goes rogue – Staffer charged with helping London Capital & Finance victim recover £20,000 but soliciting loans as well by Harry Brennan for the Telegraph

12 August 2021 – Whistleblowers make 2,754 separate allegations of financial misconduct to FCA by Pedro Gonçalves for Investment Week

26 July 2021 – Foxes in the hen house? The trouble with politicians in financial boardrooms by JB Beckett for Investment Week

20 July 2021 – Divorced From Reality: How Legal Loans Racked Up Half a Million Debt for a Standard Divorce by Katie Tarrant & Alex Varley-Winter for BylineTimes

15 July 2021 – Don’t ditch ‘tried and tested’ investments for ESG by Jean-Baptiste Andrieux for MoneyMarketing

13 July 2021 – Private equity and the raid on corporate Britain by Kaye Wiggins, Harriet Agnew and Daniel Thomas

05 July 2021 – FCA breaking law over consumer consultation, campaigners allege by Momodou Musa Touray for MoneyMarketing

02 July 2021 – Banks’ bad behaviour damaging consumer confidence by Momodou Musa Touray for MoneyMarketing

25 June 2021 – MPs LCF report too soft on FCA, campaigners say by

Momodou Musa Touray for MoneyMarketing

24 June 2021 – Regulators should do more to prevent another HBOS debacle by Momodou Musa Touray for MoneyMarketing

09 June 2021 – FCA risks ‘legal jeopardy’ over consumer duty by Lois Vallely for MoneyMarketing

18 May 2021 – How the vulnerable lost their life savings while regulators stood by by Ben Chapman for the Independent

17 May 2021 – Business Banking Resolution Service ‘done on the cheap’ by James Hurley for the Times

12 May 2021 – Where next for mortgage prisoners? by Olivia Selley and Tara Panicker for FT Adviser

11 May 2021 – Is this the banks’ best kept secret? It costs £102 to look at, but could this little known rule book help thousands of scam victims get their money back by Amelia Murray for the Daily Mail

26 Apr, 2021 – ‘Catatonic’ FCA under fire over mini-bond firm’s collapse by Ollie Smith for Citywire

24 Apr, 2021 – City watchdog ignores 45 warnings as investors lose £47m in bond scandal by Adam Williams for the Telegraph

09 Apr 2021 – PM urged to ‘clean up’ financial services by Amy Austin for FT Adviser

06 Apr 2021 – 1,000 days of turmoil: victims of currency firm collapse fear life savings are lost forever by Will Kirkman for the Telegraph

29 Mar 2021 – The Work and Pensions Committee is right to be alarmed over online pension scams by James Moore for the Independent

28 Mar 2021 – ‘Secondary scammers’ face fury of MPs in landmark report on pension fraud by Justin Cash

21 Mar 2021 – Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey in bid to force Google to stop bank scams by David Byers in Sunday Times

15 Mar 2021 – Andrew Bailey under pressure over link to RBS scandal by Edward Thicknesse in City A.M.

12 Mar 2021 – Beware the City’s push for a new regulatory watchdog by Helen Thomas for the FT

26 Feb 2021 – FCA new chief Nikhil Rathi hires top team of women to stem financial scandals at the City watchdog by Jim Armitage for the Evening Standard

20 Feb 2021 – £1.5bn Germany property scandal leaves British savers facing financial ruin by Jessica Beard for the Telegraph

18 Feb 2021 – Barclays boosts bonus payouts despite 30% fall in profit by Kalyeena Makortoff for the Guardian

17 Feb 2021 – Where next as government bonds lose power of diversification? by Adam Lewis for Portfolio Adviser

17 Feb 2021 – Neil Woodford under fire from Jersey regulator by Lucy Burton for the Telegraph

12 Feb 2021 – Andrew Bailey misled me over RBS market abuse probe, whistleblower alleges in High Court filing by Ben Chapman for the Independent

06 Feb 2021 – Fraud victims suffer enough – guarantee will help innocent overcome shame of scamming by Daniel Jones for the Sun

05 Feb 2021 – Leader: The FCA’s leaders need to step up when things go wrong by Justin Cash for MoneyMarketing

04 Feb 2021 – Pension scam victims say regulators should have saved them from from losing life savings, by Jessica Beard for the Telegraph

02 Feb 2021 – SMCR rules come back to bite FCA in mini-bond probe ‘rules around senior managers being held responsible for their actions have come back to bite the regulator’, by Daniela Esnerova for MoneyMarketing

02 Feb 2021 – Regulation must deliver transparency and protection for Buy Now Pay Later consumers by Alex Marsh for City A.M.

02 Feb 2021 – Bank chief Bailey ‘should be censured’ for failings by James Hurley for the Times

02 Feb 2021 – FCA criticised for trying to omit names from LCF report by Rachel Mortimer for FT Adviser

02 Feb 2021 – Poll: Should FCA executives bear personal responsibility for the London Capital and Finance fallout? by MoneyMarketing

01 Feb 2021 – Investment funds flouting new transparency rules by Patrick Hosking for the Times

01 Feb 2021 – MPs launch full inquiry into London Capital & Finance scandal with chairman declaring it will be “thorough and clear” by Jim Armitage for the Evening Standard

29 Jan 2021 – The Financial Services Bill doesn’t provide the tough regulation we need by Professor Prem Sikka for Left Foot Forward

25 Jan 2021 – FCA urges clients of collapsed British Steel firm to consider claims by Sonia Rach for MoneyMarketing

21 Jan 2021 – MPs call on FCA to ‘hold bad advisers to account’ by Laura Purkess for CityWire

21 Jan 2021 – FCA told it lacks vision to tackle consumer issues by Amy Austin for FT Adviser

18 Jan 2021 – Former Hong Kong lawmaker rejects HSBC’s explanation over frozen accounts by Reuters

18 Jan 2021 – What we learned from a bumper FCA data dump by Justin Cash for MoneyMarketing

18 Jan 2021 – Wall Street fears bubble from Biden stimulus as retail investing booms by Katherine Greifeld, Claire Ballentine and Vildana Hajric for Independent.ie

15 Jan 2021 – Mortgage prisoners accuse Treasury of working against them as wider FCA remit blocked by Owain Thomas for Mortgage Solutions

14 Jan 2021 – MP Vows To Keep Pushing Tougher Economic Crime Law by Richard Crump for Law360

12 Jan 2021 – Bitcoin: be prepared to lose all your money, FCA warns consumers by Kalyeena Makortoff for the Guardian

07 Jan 2021 – Regulators and police say Covid lockdowns have driven up online pension scams and demand regulation of Google, Facebook and others by Jim Armitage for the Evening Standard

06 Jan 2021 – Why UK savers could fall through the cracks in Brexit regulation from the FCA by Jim Armitage for the Evening Standard

04 Jan 2021 – Bank of England fails to publish officials’ expenses by Alex Ralph for the Times

18 Dec 2020 – Executives at Financial Conduct Authority to lose bonuses over London Capital & Finance scandal by Ben Martin for the Times – Bosses at the Financial Conduct Authority will lose £205,000 in bonuses after the highly critical report on the regulator’s handling of the London Capital & Finance scandal

17 Dec 2020 – The fallout from the financial regulator’s shocking failure on LC&F is not over yet by Nils Pratley for the Guardian

17 Dec 2020 – FCA did not ‘effectively supervise’ collapsed mini-bond issuer LCF, says report by Matthew Vincent for the Financial Times “Members of the Transparency Task Force, a lobby group pushing for regulatory reform, pointed out that in his own representations to the Gloster review, Mr Bailey included a demand “to delete references to ‘responsibility’ resting with specific identified/identifiable individuals”.

17 Dec 2020 – Former Financial Conduct Authority boss Bailey apologises over handling of mini-bond scandal by Ben Martin for the Times

16 Dec 2020 – EU cannot be ‘captured’ by City of London, warns financial services chief by Sam Fleming and Jim Brunsden for the Financial Times

09 Nov 2020 – Spike in personal pension cases at ombudsman by Rachel Mortimer for FT Adviser

09 Nov 2020 – Regulator: Climate risk ‘looms even larger’ than pandemic by Avery Ellfeldt for ClimateWire (U.S.)

08 Nov 2020 – How financial services watchdog has reacted to UK consumer worries in Covid by Hilary Osborne for Guardian

08 Nov 2020 – Five predictions for banking regulation in a Biden presidency by Jon Hill for Law 360

05 Nov 2020 – Martin Lewis warns of ‘epidemic of scams’ after ICU nurse loses £8,000 by Scott Edwards for Wales Online

05 Nov 2020 –FCA bans adviser trio jailed for sex offences by Rachel Mortimer for FT Adviser

03 Nov 2020 – ‘We haven’t received a penny’: Business interruption insurance row intensifies as owners fear payout delays, by Elizabeth Anderson for iNews

03 Nov 2020 – Aviva’s shares fiasco highlights weakness of the city watchdog by Patrick Hosking for the Times

02 Nov 2020 – Banks have done little to help the country through the pandemic, so why is the government rewarding them? by Simon Youel for the Independent

29 Oct 2020 – Calls to sack Malta financial regulator CEO by Cristian Angeloni for International Adviser

27 Oct 2020 – U.S. group urges Biden to use financial regulation to control climate change by Valerie Volcovici for Reuters

27 Oct 2020 – ‘Impact startups’ continue to raise funding during the pandemic despite difficulties faced by the wider tech startup sector by Sebastian Klovig Skelton for Computer Weekly

26 Oct 2020 – Why there must be thorough probe of claims made by Bank Signature Forgery Campaign – Greg Wright for the Yorkshire Post

26 Oct 2020 – Critics demand action over ‘flawed’ British Banking Resolution Service by James Hurley for the Times

23 Oct 2020 – Bank Signature Forgery (film) by Nicholas Wilson for Corruption UK

22 Oct 2020 – UK fraud agency suffers string of senior departures by Kate Beioley for the FT

22 Oct 2020 – Work harder to find fraud, watchdog tells auditors by James Hurley for the Times

17 Oct 2020 – MPs pursue claims bank signatures were faked on court papers by Rupert Jones for the Guardian

16 Oct 2020 – We need universal digital ad transparency now by Laura Edelson, Erika Franklin Fowler and Jason Chuang for TechCrunch

15 Oct 2020 – Rising COVID-19 Rates Send NatWest Misselling Trial To Video by Bonnie Eslinger for Law 360

15 Oct 2020 – MPs Push Agencies to Act on Forged Signature Claims by Law360

13 Oct 2020 – Mark Carney says banks should link executive pay to Paris climate goals by Kalyeena Makortoff for the Guardian

12 Oct 2020 ‘It is time to reboot the competition regime for the modern, digital age’ by David Wighton, The Times

12 Oct 2020 – Gina Miller blasts FCA complaints scheme changes ‘unfair, immoral and illegal’ by Cristian Angeloni for Portfolio Adviser

12 Oct 2020 – MPs call for input on Pension Schemes Bill by James Phillips for Professional Pensions

10 Oct 2020 – Give pension trustees power to fight scammers, say MPs by Kenza Bryan for the Times

08 Oct 2020 – Freedom to transfer pensions should be stripped where scams are suspected, industry experts urge by Jessica Beard for the Telegraph

08 Oct 2020 – Planned pensions shake-up passes first Commons hurdle by Law 360

08 Oct 2020 – WPC chairman says transfer rules ‘must be changed’ by Amy Austin for FT Adviser

07 Oct 2020 – Tech giants share blame for pension scams, MPs told by Law 360

06 Oct 2020 – FCA opens 85 cases over pension scam concerns by Amy Austin for FT Adviser

03 Oct 2020 – Record number of savers fall victim to investment fraud as scam adverts stay on Google by Andrew Ellson for The Times

30 Sep 2020 – Misselling tops Financial Ombudsman Complaints in 2020 by Law 360

28 Sep 2020 – PM urged to show leadership in fight against scams by Amy Austin for FT Adviser

28 Sep 2020 – The 100 Whistleblowers who changed Wall Street by Stephen M. Kohn and Mary Jane Wilmoth for National Law Review

28 Sep 2020 – TTF calls for govt leadership on pension scams following meeting with PM by Sophie Smith for Pensions Age

26 Sep 2020 – ICO fines pensions advisory company for 100,000 + cold calls by National Law Review

26 Sep 2020 – £60m revamp for Action Fraud hotline that failed victims by Martin Beckford for The Sunday Times

25 Sep 2020 – FCA labels Google’s scam advert efforts ‘deeply frustrating’ by Rachel Mortimer for FT Adviser

23 Sep 2020 – Bank Forgery Campaign (video) by Andy Verity for BBC

20 Sep 2020 – Leaked document trove reveals banking giants enabled money laundering by Emily Nicolle for City AM

21 Sep 2020 Flood of complaints expected over Covid-19 UK business loans, by Kalyeena Makortoff for the Guardian

18 Sep 2020 As High Street banks are accused of FORGING signatures to repossess homes, are today’s robbers the ones in suits not masks by John Humphrys for the Daily Mail

16 Sep 2020 – Regulators Accused of Ignoring Scam Warnings by Jack Gray for Pensions Age

16 Sep 2020 – Tougher clampdown on pension scams is needed, MPs told by Vicky Shaw for Belfast Telegraph

12 Sep 2020 – RBS altered customers’ files ahead of independent review into swaps mis-selling, documents show by Ben Chapman for the Independent

11 Sep 2020 – ‘Delay changes to Watchdog Complaints Scheme’ by James Hurley for The Times

11 Sep 2020 – The Hut Group facing fresh questions over governance after it reveals one of country’s best-known private equity barons to oversee pay policy by Lucy White for the Daily Mail

10 Sep 2020 London Capital and Finance investors relieved after court ruling opens route to compensation claims by Ben Chapman for the Independent

05 Sep 2020 Crime Agency under fire over bank signature forgery by Andy Verity for BBC

05 Sep 2020 – Financial Conduct Authority accused of failing to crack down on boiler room scams and, Investors sue 13 directors in London Capital & Finance failure by James Hurley for the Times

03 Sep 2020 – Regulators have not yet got to grips with how to close down crooks, warns TTF by Hope William-Smith for Professional Pensions

24 Aug 2020 – Financial Conduct Authority rushes to minimise compensation for its failings by James Hurley for The Times

04 Aug 2020 – Have your say: Will the WPC’s inquiry into the impact of pension freedoms be too overshadowed by Covid-19 impacts? by Professional Pensions

03 Aug 2020 – ‘“I’m 39, have lost my job and am in debt – can I unlock my £18k pension?” … DON’T do it!’‘ by Steve Webb for This is Money

01 Aug 2020 – ‘I lost £2.3m after I was conned into transferring my pension’ by Jessica Beard for the Telegraph

28 Jul 2020 – MPs launch inquiry into pension scams by Tom Kelly for Daily Mail ; UK Pension Scams Under Scrutiny After 2015 Relaxation in Rules by Reuters & MPs launch wide-ranging pension scams probe by Justin Cash for MoneyMarketing

24 Jul 2020 – US business groups seek steps to stamp out online fraud by Leonie Barrie for Just Style

22 Jul 2020 – Pension scams increase amid lockdown by Sophie Smith for Pensions Age & Missed Opportunity to Use Victims in Scam Work by Amy Austin for FT Adviser

21 Jul 2020 Londongrad Calling: Is Europe’s Laundromat the ‘New Normal’? by Mark Conrad

20 Jul 2020 Campaigners Aim to Create Pension Scam Database by Michael Klimes & Government eyes unauthorised firms by Justin Cash for MoneyMarketing

17 Jul 2020 – Year ‘dominated’ by FCA shortcomings as 205 complaints made, by Rachel Mortimer for FT Adviser

29 Jun 2020 – MPs Pushed to Launch Pension Scam Inquiry by Amy Austin for FT Adviser & Lawmakers Urged To Open Inquiry Into Pension Scams by Martin Croucher for Law 360

11 Jun 2020 – Blackmore minibond investors get just £5m back by Ben Martin for the Times

11 May 2020 – FCA urged to build public trust in independent reviews by Rachel Mortimer for FT Adviser

30 Apr 2020 – FCA was warned three years ago about mini-bond firm Blackmore Bond, which collapsed with £45m of savers’ money by Ben Chapman for the Independent

15 Apr 2020 – Met police lose two thirds of finance officers as fraud soars by Ben Ellery for the Times

25 Mar 2020 – Care Home Wants NatWest Docs in Misselling Fight by Law360

20 Mar 2020 – Connaught review delayed as Covid-19 concerns loom by Rachel Mortimer in FT Adviser

07 Jan 2020 – It’s time to keep your pensions promise, Boris! The PM pledged to help these victims of a huge scam FOUR years ago – and they’re still waiting by Tom Kelly for the Daily Mail.

29 Dec 2019 – ‘Lambs to the slaughter – tens of thousands of savers have lost up to £10billion in rogue pensions schemes sanctioned by the government… and now the taxman is threatening VICTIMS with fines’, and ‘Making millions from other people’s misery’: A Government adviser, call centre chief and pension scheme director are among those who stand accused of involvement in pension schemes that exploited loophole in the law by Tom Kelly for the Daily Mail

03 Sep 2019 –
Chris Gordon Developer who ‘lost £1m’ takes legal action against Ulster Bank by Alan Erwin for the Belfast Telegraph

30 Aug 2019 – MPs back businessman on hunger strike at Clydesdale Bank by Kalyeena Makortoff for the Guardian

15 Aug 2019 – Victims hit by Connaught’s collapse blast City watchdog for ‘whitewashing’ independent review by Lucy White for Daily Mail

05 Aug 2019 – Plunder in paradise: The ‘adviser’ behind a Costa scam that has cost expat pensioners £25MILLION – and led one to attempt suicide by Laura Shannon for Mail on Sunday

05 Jul 2019 Government-owned bank ‘forging signatures’ in repossession cases by Andy Verity for BBC

18 Jun 2019 – “I came home to find my house had been stolen!” by Angela Ellis-Jones for the Daily Mail

20 Jun 2019 – FCA orders review of its handling of Connaught collapse by Rachel Mortimer for FT Adviser

13 Jun 2019 – Investigation into disgraced RBS small business unit branded a ‘whitewash’ by MPs by Ben Chapman for the Independent

07 Jun 2019 – Guernsey Stock Exchange disputes FCA account over Woodford by David Thorpe in FT Adviser

29 Mar 2019 – MPs call for inquiry into alleged forgery of signatures by Andy Verity for BBC

15 Feb 2017 – RBS accused of fraud & forgery by customers and ex-employee by Andrew Hosken for The World Tonight BBC Radio 4

22 Dec 2016 – Solicitors suspended for roles in collapsed Brazilian investment scheme by Nick Hilborne for Legal Futures

10 Oct 2016 – The Dash For Cash: Leaked Files Reveal RBS Systematically Crushed British Businesses For Profit by Heidi Blake, Jane Bradley, Tom Warren & Richard Holmes for Buzzfeed News