Lloyds Bank, one of Britain's big four retail banks, was yesterday fined GBP325,000 (about HK$4.26 million) for failing to have in place sufficient systems to adequately advise on pension transfers.
The bank said it had taken provisions of GBP165 million for possible compensation payments to do with the mis-selling of pension products, and expects to pay compensation to 1,500 pension transfer customers.
Yesterday, the Investment Management Regulatory Organisation (Imro), said the group was found to not have all the facts and information to provide credible pension transfer advice.
Pension transfers relate to the decision taken by customers to leave an employer's pension scheme before its maturity date, and either transfer funds to a new employer's scheme or a personal pension.
Imro said Lloyds 'did not obtain or have systems to obtain all relevant facts about the personal and financial circumstances of its customers needed to advise them properly about pension transfers'.
In addition, the bank failed to 'ensure that all customers had all the information required to make a fair and balanced decision on carrying out a pension transfer'.
