trending Market Intelligence /marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/Z-C9KYlPN_eDdymzad_gOA2 content esgSubNav
In This List

UK regulator fines Bluefin Insurance Services more than £4M

Blog

The Big Picture 2022 Insurance Industry Outlook

Podcast

Next in Tech | Episode 37: Insurance impacts on technology and vice versa

Case Study

A Prestigious Global Business School Gains a Competitive Edge

Video

S&P Capital IQ Pro | Unrivaled Sector Coverage


UK regulator fines Bluefin Insurance Services more than £4M

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority fined Bluefin Insurance Services Ltd. more than £4.0 million for having inadequate systems and controls and for misleading customers about its independence.

The insurance broker held itself out as "truly independent" in the advice it provided and the insurers it recommended to customers between March 9, 2011, and Dec. 31, 2014, during which it was still wholly owned by Axa unit Axa UK Plc. Bluefin was sold to Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. at 2016-end.

However, Bluefin failed to manage the conflict arising from its ownership, which compromised the company's independence and instilled a culture that promoted business strategies, including a policy that gave importance to increasing the business placed with Axa over being fair to customers, according to the regulator.

"Bluefin brokers did not disclose this policy, so customers risked being misled into believing they were dealing with a broker who would conduct an unbiased search of the market," the FCA said Dec. 6.

Bluefin agreed to settle at an early stage of the investigation and received a 30% reduction in its overall fine, without which the fine would have been more than £5.7 million.