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Monday, 28 April 2014 11:18
Invesco Perpetual fined £18m by regulator
The Financial Conduct Authority has fined Invesco Perpetual £18m for exposing investors to greater levels of risk than they had been led to expect.
Between May 2008 and November 2012, Invesco Perpetual did not comply with investment limits which are designed to protect consumers by limiting their exposure to risk, the regulator said.
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The FCA found that Invesco Perpetual:
· Broke the FCA's rules designed to limit the risks to investors on 33 occasions, these breaches occurred across 15 of the Invesco Perpetual branded range of funds, which represented more than 70% of the assets under management;
· Didn't communicate clearly or fairly with its investors because it failed to disclose the use of derivatives in the relevant simplified prospectuses, and incorrectly described the impact of using derivatives in the key investor information documents produced in 2012;
· Failed to record trades on time, which meant the funds could have been wrongly priced; and
• Failed to monitor whether trades were allocated fairly between funds, creating a risk that some funds may have been disadvantaged.
However, Invesco Perpetual, the largest retail investment manager in the UK, was found by the FCA to have acted quickly to improve its systems and controls and to remediate the issues identified.
The total fine was £18,643,000.
Invesco Perpetual agreed to settle at an early stage, qualifying for 30% discount to their fine. Without this, the fine would have been £26,632,900.
Tracey McDermott, FCA director of enforcement and financial crime, said: "As a forward looking regulator the FCA takes action where we see risks to consumers, not just after they suffer losses.
"In this case, investors of all sizes trusted Invesco Perpetual to manage their money.
"They signed up for a certain level of risk but we found Invesco Perpetual's actions were at odds with investors' reasonable expectations."
Between May 2008 and November 2012, Invesco Perpetual did not comply with investment limits which are designed to protect consumers by limiting their exposure to risk, the regulator said.
{desktop}{/desktop}{mobile}{/mobile}
The FCA found that Invesco Perpetual:
· Broke the FCA's rules designed to limit the risks to investors on 33 occasions, these breaches occurred across 15 of the Invesco Perpetual branded range of funds, which represented more than 70% of the assets under management;
· Didn't communicate clearly or fairly with its investors because it failed to disclose the use of derivatives in the relevant simplified prospectuses, and incorrectly described the impact of using derivatives in the key investor information documents produced in 2012;
· Failed to record trades on time, which meant the funds could have been wrongly priced; and
• Failed to monitor whether trades were allocated fairly between funds, creating a risk that some funds may have been disadvantaged.
However, Invesco Perpetual, the largest retail investment manager in the UK, was found by the FCA to have acted quickly to improve its systems and controls and to remediate the issues identified.
The total fine was £18,643,000.
Invesco Perpetual agreed to settle at an early stage, qualifying for 30% discount to their fine. Without this, the fine would have been £26,632,900.
Tracey McDermott, FCA director of enforcement and financial crime, said: "As a forward looking regulator the FCA takes action where we see risks to consumers, not just after they suffer losses.
"In this case, investors of all sizes trusted Invesco Perpetual to manage their money.
"They signed up for a certain level of risk but we found Invesco Perpetual's actions were at odds with investors' reasonable expectations."
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