New Ireland Assurance has been fined €650,000 by the Central Bank for breaches of the Consumer Protection Code.
The Central Bank said this morning that the breaches relate to the provision of incomplete information to consumers regarding New Ireland’s investment products, including the performance of those products.
The Central Bank also said that there were “systems and controls failures associated with the provision of information to consumers”.
The breaches occurred between July 1, 2012 and November 30, 2014. The Central Bank said the firm had accepted the breaches.
The Central Bank’s director of enforcement, Derville Rowland, said regulated entities must have adequate systems and controls in place to ensure the provision of information.
“The Consumer Protection Code 2012 sets out the minimum standards the Central Bank expects regulated entities to comply with in their dealings with consumers. Chapter 6 Provision 6.16 of the 2012 Code requires regulated entities to provide certain information to consumers on at least an annual basis to enable them to assess the performance of their investment products over the previous year,” Ms Rowland said.
“It is of paramount importance that consumers receive such information in a complete and transparent manner, particularly in respect of longer term investment products, to enable them to analyse the performance and value of their investments and to assess whether those investments are on track to meet their personal financial goals and objectives.
“As the Firm was not providing all such information to consumers the Central Bank brought this enforcement action to protect consumers’ interests.
“In order to ensure that consumers receive complete information in respect of their investment products in a timely fashion, regulated entities must have adequate systems and controls in place regarding the provision of such information.”
Article Source: http://tinyurl.com/kbwqb42
