Standard Life fined £2.45m after Sterling fund debacle

Standard Life has been fined £2.45m by the FSA for serious failures relating to its Pension Sterling fund.

The FSA says the penalty, the first major fine of 2010, signals its intentions to crack down on regulatory breaches. The fund became controversial in January 2009, when Standard Life made a shock 5% decrease in its valuation. Regulators says the firm misled customers, as the product was originally sold as a ‘safe' cash fund, despite being linked to risky mortgage-backed securities (MBS). The FSA believes systems and controls failings were responsible for the production of the misleading marketing material. Standard Life also failed to perform a prompt and full investigation of i...