The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined Adrian Mark Mosley of Mosley & Company £10,500 and prohibited him from holding a Significant Influence Function or acting as a sole trader. Mosley did not have the necessary competence and capability to provide financial advice to his clients and failed to treat his customers fairly.
As Mosley was the sole director and only FSA approved person working at Mosley & Company, the FSA has cancelled Mosley & Company's permission to carry on regulated activities. Mosley & Company was a small independent financial advice firm based in Keighley, West Yorkshire.
The FSA found that Mosley:
- Made potentially misleading statements to customers about their rights
- Told some of his customers that his services were 'execution-only,' when they were advised sales
- Sought to exclude or restrict his duties to customers, encouraging them to sign a waiver declaring that they 'could see no wrongful advice now or in the future'
- Failed to research adequately products for his customers
- Failed to assess his customers' personal and financial circumstances and record adequately why his recommendations were suitable
- Recommended and arranged regulated mortgages for his customers, when he was not qualified to do so
- Failed to ensure an adequate complaints handling process was in place
Bill Sillett, head of retail enforcement at the FSA, said:
"In taking this action, we are protecting the public from an IFA who misled his customers and was neither competent, capable nor qualified.
Mosley has now been banned and fined. This should act as a message that the FSA will dedicate time and resource to punishing misconduct across all areas of the financial services industry, whether the firm is small or large."
Background
- The Final Notice for Adrian Mark Mosley. <http://www.fsa.gov.uk/static/pubs/final/adrian-mosley.pdf>
- The FSA regulates the financial services industry and has four objectives under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000: maintaining market confidence; securing the appropriate degree of protection for consumers; fighting financial crime; and contributing to the protection and enhancement of the stability of the UK financial system.
- The FSA will be replaced by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority in 2013. The Financial Services Bill <http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2010-12/financialservices.html> currently undergoing parliamentary scrutiny is expected to receive Royal Assent by the end of 2012.
