Welsh MPs call on Westminster spending watchdog to look into possible Port Talbot pensions mis-selling

Welsh MPs have called on Westminster’s spending watchdog to look into a lack of action by the financial sector regulator over the possible mis-selling of pensions in Port Talbot.

Stephen Kinnock and Nick Smith want the National Audit Office to investigate the Financial Conduct Authority which they say has failed to get to grips with a scandal.

More than 2,000 current and former steelworkers transferred out of their final-salary schemes but now fear that the financial advice they received may have been unsuitable.

Nick Smith told the Financial Times that their experience of the Financial Conduct Authority in relation to the issue had “been one of delay and failure to lead”.

“It is estimated that thousands of steelworkers were given bad transfer advice and lost tens of thousands of pounds as a result,” the MP for Blaenau Gwent said.

“The National Audit Office needs to investigate how this has been handled.”

Stephen Kinnock, the MP for Aberavon, added that it was “time to draw a line under the scandal”.

Between 2017 and 2018, around 7,700 members of the British Steel Pension Scheme transferred to stock market-based pension arrangements.

However, in June 2020 the Financial Conduct Authority said a review had found that only a fifth of the recommendations to British Steel Pension Scheme members to transfer were suitable.

They are advising those affected to seek compensation.