FSA fines outsourcing firm a million dollars

Under our radar, as it is in the pensions markets, but something very noteworthy occurred last week.  The FSA attacked the outsourcing and Third Party Administration Markets by fining Liberata over a million dollars for failures in its systems and controls for managing and issuing pensions policies.

Margaret Cole, Director of Enforcement at the FSA and who I quoted last week as someone keen to make a mark, said:

"The failings by Liberata were particularly serious because they put policyholders at risk of not receiving important information about their savings and pensions products. This resulted in customers not being treated fairly.

"The fine we have imposed on Liberata acts as a clear signal to firms to ensure that there are appropriate systems and controls around processes and, where there are problems, that such problems are identified and resolved swiftly. Firms which fail to do this should be in no doubt that they run the risk of enforcement action."

The fine represents a substantial chunk of Liberata's £5.9 million of profits in 2007.

Just goes to show that the services and technology community are just as exposed to the FSA's radar as the financial community, especially if you are running a bank's or insurer's back office.

Watch out, there's a fine about.