Jonathan Leigh Hardie, formerly a compliance director at Primedale Financial Services, has been banned by the FSA for failing to consider his 'regulatory responsibilities' when dealing with endowment complaints over a period of five years.
Jonathan Phelan, head of retail enforcement at the FSA said that this latest action should leave firms in no doubt that having adequate complaints handling systems in place is of great importance to the regulator, as well as those charged with upholding the systems upholding thorough practices.
He added that this was a key part of 'Treating Customers Fairly' regulation.
Whilst working at the now liquidated firm between January 2001 and May 2006, Hardie failed to appropriately review and adequately respond to complaints received by the company pertaining to endowment mis-selling.
Hardie was deemed by the regulator to have not handled complaints fairly or objectively, failing to give proper reasons for their rejection.
He also neglected to identify and remedy recurring problems in Primedale's endowment mortgage complaints handling procedures
"Hardie was responsible for ensuring that Primedale reviewed and responded fairly to the mortgage endowment complaints it received but he fell a long way short of achieving this and as a consequence has been banned from being a senior manager," concluded Phelan.
