The FCA has banned Nigel Lewis and Susan Jones of West Wales Financial Services Limited (in liquidation) (FRN: 756482) from advising customers on pension transfers and pension opt outs after accusing them of performing "a double act of carelessness and incompetence" in relation to BSPS advice.

Mr Lewis has also been banned from holding any senior management functions in a regulated firm.

Mr Lewis and Ms Jones will also pay £26,800 and £40,888, respectively, to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme to contribute towards the compensation owed to WWFS customers. 

The regulator said that between March and December 2017, West Wales Financial Services provided unsuitable pension transfer advice based on the incorrect assumption that it would be in their customers’ best interests to transfer out of their secure defined benefit pension scheme.

West Wales Financial Services was an independent financial adviser based in Llanelli, Wales.

Ms Jones advised 27 of 28 customers to transfer out of their defined benefit pension scheme, 25 of whom were members of the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS). In total, £9,769,550 of pension funds were transferred to riskier defined contribution schemes.

As part of his oversight role, Mr Lewis was responsible for ensuring that WWFS provided suitable advice and to take reasonable steps to ensure advice was suitable. He failed to do so, the watchdog said.

The FCA halted WWFS from processing transfers for a further 141 customers, all of whom were members of the BSPS. Had it not been for its intervention, the risk of loss would have continued, and these customers may have transferred out funds totalling £43,722,771, the FCA said.  

Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight, said: "Mr Lewis and Ms Jones performed a double act of carelessness and incompetence that put people’s hard-earned pensions at risk. They would have continued to provide bad advice to many more had it not been for the FCA’s timely intervention. People need someone they can trust to give them informed advice on their financial future - and it’s not these two.”

Mr Lewis and Ms Jones agreed to settle their cases and have agreed to make payments to the FSCS to contribute towards the compensation owed to WWFS’s customers.

As at 21 November 2023, the FSCS had paid out £758,725.55 in compensation to customers of West Wales Financial Services Limited (in liquidation). Had it not been for the compensation limit of £85,000, the total compensation available to customers would have been £972,197.28. 

In recent months a number of financial advisers and firms have been sanctioned over their advice on BSPS pension transfers.

Earlier this month the FCA imposed restrictions on KBFS Financial Limited following concerns over its failure to pay redress to former members of the British Steel Pension Scheme.

Last month Swansea financial adviser Simon Hughes was banned by the FCA and made to pay £158,600 redress for “negligent” pension advice which led to £8m compensation being paid to his BSPS-member clients.

In September the FCA banned Darren Reynolds and Andrew Deeney of Active Wealth Limited for dishonest pension transfer advice. Mr Reynolds advised 150 BSPS members to put their money into investments that the regulator said he knew were not suitable for them.

Some 40 financial advice firms hit by BSPS claims have so far failed with a further seven under investigation, latest FSCS data shows. Claims relating to the 40 advice firms which went out of business before 28 February are now being handled by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Compensation costs are expected to run into the millions.