Financial firms to be punished for misleading elderly

THE Financial Regulator’s office has warned it will punish anyone selling investment products they know to be unsuitable for customers.

The regulator’s consumer director Mary O’Dea spoke after an investigation exposed firms offering to sell long-term investment packages to elderly people without providing advice on the conditions attached.

Ms O’Dea said that since a new code of conduct came in last year it has issued 11 enforcement notices to firms, half of which arose because of a failure to gather all relevant information. It has imposed fines of up to €88,000 in these cases.