FCA Moves to Fine Adviser £742,700 Over Pension Transfer Advice He Was Not Qualified to Give

Daniel Philip Thomas faces a £742,700 fine and a lifetime ban from financial services after the Financial Conduct Authority found he gave defined benefit pension transfer advice to 53 clients over around five years without the qualifications or permissions to do so.

The figures show a pattern of misconduct that ran to 63 separate pension transfers, with Thomas earning roughly £173,000 in fees from advice he was neither trained nor authorised to provide. The Financial Conduct Authority has decided to prohibit him from working in any regulated financial services role and to impose the penalty under sections 56 and 66 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The total fine includes an uplift beyond the fee disgorgement to reflect the seriousness of the breaches and Thomas’s failure to co-operate with investigators.

The FCA found that Thomas breached three of its core Statements of Principle for Approved Persons — integrity, due skill and care, and co-operation. He misled clients and pension providers about qualifications he did not hold, and destroyed client records during the investigation. Among those he advised were members of the British Steel Pension Scheme, who were directed into self-invested personal pension arrangements with a single provider.

Thomas operated through DPT Financial Solutions Limited as an appointed representative — a status that explicitly did not permit him to advise on defined benefit transfers. Yet he did so for around five years.

The FCA’s decision is currently at Decision Notice stage, meaning the findings are provisional. Thomas can refer the matter to the Upper Tribunal, which has the power to uphold, vary or cancel the FCA’s decision entirely.

Defined benefit schemes guarantee a retirement income based on salary and length of service. Transferring out is considered high-risk for most people, and the FCA requires advisers to hold specialist qualifications and produce detailed suitability reports before recommending a transfer. Consumers who transferred out following advice from Thomas may have grounds for redress. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme can pay up to £85,000 per eligible claim where a firm is unable to meet its liabilities.

Key information

• If you received defined benefit pension transfer advice from Daniel Thomas or DPT Financial Solutions Limited, check whether that advice was suitable using the FCA’s defined benefit pension transfer advice checker at the FCA website.
• To complain, contact the adviser or firm directly first; if you receive no satisfactory response within eight weeks, escalate to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
• If the firm is no longer trading or cannot pay, apply to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which covers eligible losses up to £85,000 per claim from unsuitable regulated advice.
• Before accepting any defined benefit pension transfer advice, verify that your adviser holds FCA-recognised pension transfer specialist qualifications and ask for a written suitability report — keep copies of all documents.