‘Regulator failed to protect steelworkers from rogue pension advisers’ – MP
them out now it should just stop transfers happening while it gets its house in order.”
In his letter to the FCA, Mr Field said that while people with a pension pot worth more than £30,000 were required to take advice before transferring it, that protection was “useless in practice if that advice is shoddy or just plain crooked”.
A spokesman for the regulator said: “The FCA has received the letter and will, of course, respond to it.”
Aberavon MP Stephen Kinnock has asked for steelworkers to be given more time to decide what they want to do with their pensions.
He said: “I am increasingly concerned about the stories of unscrupulous advisers targeting the steelworkers and cheating them out of their pension money.
“I will be raising these concerns directly with the chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority.
“With highly valuable final salary pension schemes, and limited information and support available to make an informed decision, steelworkers have been targeted by those wishing to exploit the situation.
““In some situations they have been given advice, contrary to current regulatory advice, to transfer final-salary benefits into riskier schemes without any risk-profile checks, or into unsuitable investments and other products with unnecessarily high charges.
“With contradictory advice flying around and the danger or receiving poor advice which could leave them financially worse off, steelworkers are extremely worried and anxious about making such a massive decision.
“It is clear that the steelworkers have been left exposed to unscrupulous individuals who have sought to exploit them in what has been a very high profile pension saga.
“Urgent action needs to be taken to address this matter and protect steelworkers from these scams.”