FCA fines and bans former wealth management director for serious misconduct

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has banned former Bluesky Wealth Management director, Frank Breuer, from working in UK financial services and fined him £755,000.

The regulator stated that Breuer “repeatedly acted without integrity” and put customers at risk for personal financial gain.

Breuer was the joint owner and sole director of Bluesky Wealth Management, which provided advice on investments and pensions. Although authorised to advise on defined benefit (DB) pension transfers, the firm did not have the appropriate professional insurance in place from April 2019.

The FCA said that this meant Breuer’s customers were at risk of not receiving compensation if something went wrong.

Breuer carried out at least 16 DB pension transfers while knowing he was uninsured, while the FCA said he also repeatedly misled it about the firm’s insurance position.

In October 2019, Breuer agreed to restrictions introduced by the regulator to protect customers and the firm’s assets. However, he ignored these restrictions and stripped the firm’s assets by paying himself large dividends, taking personal loans and moving money through connected accounts.

By September 2020, Breuer knew that the FCA had concerns about the suitability of Bluesky’s advice and from June 2022 onwards, the Financial Ombudsman Service upheld several complaints against Bluesky on the DB advice Breuer had given.

He then placed Bluesky into an insolvency process in April 2023, leaving substantial customer liabilities to be met by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

“Breuer sought to evade paying compensation due to customers as a result of his own bad pension advice and feathered his own nest in the process, stripping substantial assets from his firm,” commented joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, Therese Chambers.

“He repeatedly misled the FCA and flouted FCA restrictions. He’s not fit to work in financial services.”

The FSCS redress scheme remains open to claims from affected customers, with £214,800 having been paid out to date.

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