British steel pension scheme misleading offers – update

The Financial Conduct Authority, FCA, has published a follow-up statement in connection with the new redress scheme for customers that were wrongfully or poorly advised to transfer out of the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) following the financial difficulties of the scheme’s sponsor in 2016 and the subsequent restructuring in 2017 and 2018.
Specifically, the FCA has now found that 15 firms have made unsolicited offers to former BSPS scheme members seeking to induce them to agree to disadvantageous settlements prior to the coming into force of the new redress scheme. As said before, the FCA once again emphasizes that it will not tolerate any such behavior and expects firms to refrain from such practices. Additionally, firms that have pending settlement agreements based on unsolicited offers must withdraw from such offers and need to stop making any further offers to former scheme members.