Windfall Benefits & Unequal Treatment

Response to this request is long overdue. By law, under all circumstances, The Financial Conduct Authority should have responded by now (details). You can complain by requesting an internal review.

Dear The Financial Conduct Authority,

Subsequent to my request - endowment assurance benefits and residence of 30 April 2014 - could the FCA provide the following information

1. Standard Life is actively trying to locate UK policyholders who did not receive member entitlement shares when it listed on the London Stock Exchange July 2006. For some (unknown) reason the company seems to be of the opinion that members in Glasgow got poor (unfair) treatment. Indeed the press - The Sunday Herald January 2007 - has cited an example of a Glasgow based UK policyholder that received £20,000 from the Unclaimed Assets Trust, (UAT) designed to meet the non-allocation / shortfall allocation of member entitlement shares July 2006.

Can the FCA please advise how a Glasgow UK policyholder and member can receive

(a) such a large sum of money
(b) what share price policyholders are receiving on receipt of their "rights" (dubiously referred to by the FCA as "windfall benefits") from the UAT
(c) are such policyholders receiving their "bonus" of 1 in 20 free shares (retention of shares beyond 12 months)

For example, a British citizen and long-term UK endowment assurance policyholder resident in Canada July 2006 received approximately £3000 cash (not shares) and no right to buy / sell member entitlement shares for profit or indeed no "bonus" shares. The share price rose to £3.50 and has since, not surprisingly, dived.

Can the FCA provide any evidence to the effect that Standard Life is making an effort to locate UK policyholders and members with free member entitlement share rights outside of

(a) Glasgow
(b) Scotland
(c) UK
(d) Europe

Standard Life has by its own admission (exemption from reporting document put before the various Securities Commissions based by Province & Territory in Canada) admitted it has UK policyholders and members of which there are 2,000,000 in 130 countries worldwide.

2. Mr Colin Ledlie (chartered accountant) worked at Standard Life 2003 - 2006 and was the author of the (internal) audit documentation re the demutualisation of the Standard Life Assurance Company (SLAC now SLAL and commonly referred to as the With Profits Fund). Said documentation together with the Compensation Manual and Calculation Manual outlined the basis for calculation of windfall benefits / receipt of member "rights" on the company listing July 2006.

I note Mr Ledlie was a "special advisor" at the FCA 2013. Can the FCA provide details of

(a) the number of Standard Life shares allocated to Mr Ledlie or purchased by Mr Ledlie and what "return" he received from the afore-mentioned shares
(b) was any allocation of shares re (a) above linked to a Standard Life policy &
(c) what was (is) the nature of the "special advisory" role of Mr Ledlie at the FCA 2013

The FCA has a duty to investigate companies and to ensure that UK policyholders receive "fair treatment". If the press is to be believed there appears to be a great deal of UNequal treatment occurring re long term UK policyholders whose member "rights" were based on their land title deeds (payment of premiums) in the UK.

It is therefore extremely surprising to note that a professional accountant in the finance industry guilty of less than equal treatment to UK policyholders re their member rights based on UK property / land rights is being engaged by the FCA.

Yours faithfully,

S Gibb

The Financial Conduct Authority

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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
25 The North Colonnade,
Canary Wharf,
London
E14 5HS
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Registered as a Limited Company in England and Wales No.1920623.
Registered Office as above
Switchboard: 020 7066 1000
Web Site: http://www.fca.org.uk
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Freedom of Information, The Financial Conduct Authority

 

Our ref:  FOI3470

 

 

Dear Sir / Madam

 

We refer to your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the
Act), for information about Standard Life and Mr Colin Ledlie. 
Specifically, you requested the following:

 

“1.    Standard Life is actively trying to locate UK policyholders who did
not receive member entitlement shares when it listed on the London Stock
Exchange July 2006.  For some (unknown) reason the company seems to be of
the opinion that members in Glasgow got poor (unfair) treatment.  Indeed
the press - The Sunday Herald January 2007 - has cited an example of a
Glasgow based UK policyholder that received £20,000 from the Unclaimed
Assets Trust, (UAT) designed to meet the non-allocation / shortfall
allocation of member entitlement shares July 2006.

 

Can the FCA please advise how a Glasgow UK policyholder and member can
receive

 

(a)    such a large sum of money

(b)   what share price policyholders are receiving on receipt of their
"rights" (dubiously referred to by the FCA as "windfall benefits") from
the UAT

(c)    are such policyholders receiving their "bonus" of 1 in 20 free
shares (retention of shares beyond 12 months)

 

For example, a British citizen and long-term UK endowment assurance
policyholder resident in Canada July 2006 received approximately £3000
cash (not shares) and no right to buy / sell member entitlement shares for
profit or indeed no "bonus" shares.  The share price rose to £3.50 and has
since, not surprisingly, dived.

 

Can the FCA provide any evidence to the effect that Standard Life is
making an effort to locate UK policyholders and members with free member
entitlement share rights outside of

 

(a)    Glasgow

(b)   Scotland

(c)    UK

(d)   Europe

 

Standard Life has by its own admission (exemption from reporting document
put before the various Securities Commissions based by Province &
Territory in Canada) admitted it has UK policyholders and members of which
there are 2,000,000 in 130 countries worldwide.

 

2.     Mr Colin Ledlie (chartered accountant) worked at Standard Life 2003
- 2006  and was the author of the (internal) audit documentation re the
demutualisation of the Standard Life Assurance Company (SLAC now SLAL and
commonly referred to as the With Profits Fund).  Said documentation
together with the Compensation Manual and Calculation Manual outlined the
basis for calculation of windfall benefits / receipt of member "rights" on
the company listing July 2006.

 

I note Mr Ledlie was a "special advisor" at the FCA 2013.  Can the FCA
provide details of

 

(a)    the number of Standard Life shares allocated to Mr Ledlie or
purchased by Mr Ledlie and what "return" he received from the
afore-mentioned shares

(b)   was any allocation of shares re (a) above linked to a Standard Life
policy &

(c)    what was (is) the nature of the "special advisory" role of Mr
Ledlie at the FCA 2013”

 

Your request has now been considered and we will answer each point in
turn.

 

In relation to point 1, we can confirm that we do not hold any information
that falls within the scope of your request.

 

In relation to point 2(a) and (b), we also confirm that we do not hold any
information that falls within the scope of your request.  This is because,
as a secondee, Mr Ledlie was not subject to the provisions of the FCA’s
Code of Conduct and therefore was not obliged to provide us with any
information in this regard (see point 2.9 on page 5 of the FCA Code of
Conduct available on our website at

[1]http://www.fca.org.uk/static/documents/c...).

 

In relation to point 2(c), during Mr Ledlie’s secondment at the FCA, he
worked as advisor to the Long Term Savings and Pensions Division.

 

The FCA has a number of Special Advisors, who have an internal consultancy
role for FCA departments and divisions, based on their area of industry
knowledge and expertise.  Special Advisors tend to work on special
projects and operate within the relevant Business Unit/Division.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Information Access Team

Financial Conduct Authority

 

 

This communication and any attachments contains information which is
confidential and may be subject to legal privilege. It is for intended
recipients only. If you are not the intended recipient you must not copy,
distribute, publish, rely on or otherwise use it without our consent. Some
of our communications may contain confidential information which it could
be a criminal offence for you to disclose or use without authority. If you
have received this email in error please notify [email address]
immediately and delete the email from your computer.

 

The FCA reserves the right to monitor all email communications for
compliance with legal, regulatory and professional standards.

 

This email is not intended to nor should it be taken to create any legal
relations or contractual relationships. This email has originated from

 

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)

25 The North Colonnade,

Canary Wharf,

London

E14 5HS

United Kingdom

 

Registered as a Limited Company in England and Wales No.1920623.

Registered Office as above

 

Switchboard: 020 7066 1000

Web Site: http://www.fca.org.uk

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References

Visible links
1. http://www.fca.org.uk/static/documents/c...

Dear Freedom of Information,

Thank you so much for the non-response. Nothing new there then for the FCA (FSA).

The FCA has a key objective re the "protection of consumers". Can you advise which consumers of the UK financial services industry it offers protection?

Please list the UK consumers that

(a) the FCA does protect &
(b) those it does NOT PROTECT

Can you advise further as to what sort of advice Mr Ledlie provided to the FCA re long-term pensions. For example, would this relate to staff pensions, private pension plans taken out by consumers etc.

And if Mr Ledlie has been providing any advice re consumer pensions what "protection" is the FCA going to provide these consumers?

Yours sincerely,

S Gibb

The Financial Conduct Authority

Thank you for e-mailing the Financial Conduct Authority's Information Access Team. This is an automatic acknowledgement to tell you we have received your email safely. Please do not reply to this email. We wil be in touch in due course.

This communication and any attachments contains information which is confidential and may be subject to legal privilege. It is for intended recipients only. If you are not the intended recipient you must not copy, distribute, publish, rely on or otherwise use it without our consent. Some of our communications may contain confidential information which it could be a criminal offence for you to disclose or use without authority. If you have received this email in error please notify [email address] immediately and delete the email from your computer.

The FCA reserves the right to monitor all email communications for compliance with legal, regulatory and professional standards.
This email is not intended to nor should it be taken to create any legal relations or contractual relationships. This email has originated from
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
25 The North Colonnade,
Canary Wharf,
London
E14 5HS
United Kingdom
Registered as a Limited Company in England and Wales No.1920623.
Registered Office as above
Switchboard: 020 7066 1000
Web Site: http://www.fca.org.uk
*****************************************************************