FSA fines Sun Life of Canada (UK) £600k over with-profits failings

Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (UK) Limited (SLOC UK) has been fined £600,000 by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for failings in the governance of its with-profits business.

The watchdog said the design and operation of the life insurer's governance arrangements were "unclear and inadequate", resulting in a high risk that policyholders' interests would not be properly protected. The firm's governance failings came to light following two significant transactions executed in 2008 and 2009. The transactions affected one of SLOC UK's with-profits funds, holding about 114,000 policies and £1.2bn in assets. SLOC UK's with-profits committee failed to adequately review these transactions, while its board of directors did not approve the transactions, the FSA a...