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.
