The Welsh-based firm, which traded as County Financial Consultants, had 35 complaints against it. It was one of the firms that advised on the British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS) that has since paid out over £3m in compensation claims.
Steel producer Tata Steel sponsored the BSPS which held £15m in retirement savings for thousands of British Steel employees.
The firm attempted to pull out of the UK market in 2016 but was convinced by the government and the pensions regulator to go through a restructuring process which included the transfer of these pensions, which employees were advised to do.
The restructure left its employees with fewer pension benefits than they were originally entitled to.
Pembrokeshire Mortgage Centre voluntarily withdrew from the pension market in 2018 following the fallout of the scheme before going into liquidation in September last year.
Other firms in default from January to February:
- Inspired Wealth Limited
- Copia Wealth Management Limited
- Atlas Travel Insurance Services Ltd
- Grosvenor Financial Consultants Limited formerly Decormore Limited
- RHT Financial Services Limited
- Liberty Sipp Limited trading as Liberty Pensions
- Red Kite Finance Limited formerly Thorpe Park Finance Limited
- Prometheus Insurance Company Ltd
- Gardner Massey Wright IFA Limited trading as Eskdene Associates
- Sequence Financial Management Limited trading as Sequence Pension Solutions, Moneybrain Robo-Advice,
- Universal Capital Markets Ltd, trading as Nexus Capital Ltd and Aspire Trade Ltd
- Sterling Pension Management Limited formerly F E Wright (Pensions & Financial Planning) Ltd,
- John Coldwell Pensions & Investments Limited
Sarah Marin, FSCS’s interim chief customer officer, said: “FSCS puts customers and their need for trust in financial services first. This focus is needed more than ever, with the increased potential for financial vulnerability as a result of the pandemic.
“FSCS’s protection increases consumer confidence when buying financial products and services, and our compensation helps put customers back on track if firms should fail.”
