UK: Aviva settlement with the FCA

Aviva has cooperated fully with the FCA during its review, unreservedly accepts the FCA’s decision, and has agreed to pay a fine of £8,246,800. Aviva has taken action to address the areas of concern and customers have not suffered any loss.

Customers’ money and assets are secure with Aviva and are appropriately managed on the adviser platform, and there has been no impact on advisers.

The FCA’s focus was on Aviva’s UK life adviser platform between January 2013 and September 2015. 

The FCA’s client money and assets (CASS) rules require that companies holding customer money and assets ensure that these are identified, recorded and held appropriately so that they may be tracked, reconciled and returned to the customer when required.

Aviva has worked closely with the FCA throughout the review, and the FCA has recognised the commitment Aviva has demonstrated in resolving the matter and strengthening its CASS oversight. In particular, the following actions have been taken by Aviva:

1. Recruited and established a specialist team focusing solely on the oversight of the customer money and assets processes in place for the adviser platform.

2. Strengthened the governance and controls in relation to the administration of customer money and assets on the platform.

3. Conducted a rigorous review of all CASS processes.

4. External experts have supported Aviva in addressing the FCA’s findings.            

Andy Briggs, Chief Executive Officer of Aviva UK Life, said:

“We fully accept the findings of the FCA’s review. This should not have happened and we are sorry. Aviva’s customers have not suffered any loss and there has been no impact on advisers. We have addressed and resolved the issues identified. We have made improvements to ensure we have clear oversight of the processes undertaken on the adviser platform, and remain vigilant in our continued monitoring through a dedicated and expert team.”

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If you are a journalist and would like further information, please contact the Aviva UK Life Press Office:  

Louise Soulsby: 07800 699 526 louise.soulsby@aviva.com

Diane Mangan: 07800 691 714 diane.mangan@aviva.com

Peter Webb:  07977 918 564: peter.webb1@aviva.com

Notes to editors:

• Aviva’s adviser platform is a secure online platform for life financial advisers to manage their customer’s pensions and investments and is accessed via a portal on Aviva.co.u
• Aviva UK Wrap Limited is the provider of the adviser platform and consumer platform.
• Aviva Pension Trustees UK Limited is the provider and trustee of the SIPP utilised by the platforms.

About Aviva UK Life:

• Aviva is the largest insurer in the UK Life market, based on IFRS operating profit and value of new business[i], with a 14% share of UK Life new business and 12 million customers.
• We offer a comprehensive suite of products to individuals and groups, including pensions, retirement solutions, life insurance, savings and investment products.
• We are the UK’s largest provider of group personal pensions[i], a market which is expected to triple over the next 10 years [ii] and individual annuities[iv].
• Our pension new business is focused on providing defined contribution schemes to employers and employees in the UK, as well as a range of workplace benefit and automatic enrolment compliance tools.
• We are also a leading provider of protection [iv] and equity release [iii] products in the UK. More than £839 million was paid out to individual protection customers and their families in 2015 through claims on life insurance, critical illness and income protection policies.
• With health solutions for individuals and corporate clients, we are one of the largest health insurers in the UK. We are also one of the UK’s leading providers of group life insurance, giving peace of mind to employers and their employees alike.
• We protect more than eight million lives through our combined portfolio of individual and corporate health and protection solutions.                                                                                                                               

[i] Derived from externally released data as at 31 December 2015 (including data from Aviva and Friends Life Groups).

[ii] Group personal Pensions market projections based on Spence Johnson analysis

[iii] According to Equity release council and company reporting data ended 31 December 2015

[iv] According to market share, sourced from Association of British Insurers (ABI) data, year ended 31 December 2015.

 About Aviva:

• Aviva provides life insurance, general insurance, health insurance and asset management to 33 million customers, across 16 markets worldwide
• In the UK we are the leading insurer serving one in every four households and have strong businesses in selected markets in Europe, Asia and Canada. Our shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange and we are a member of the FTSE100 index.  
• Aviva’s asset management business, Aviva Investors, provides asset management services to both Aviva and external clients, and currently manages over £319 billion in assets.
• Aviva helps people save for the future and manage the risks of everyday life; we paid out £30.7 billion in benefits and claims in 2015.
• By serving our customers well, we are building a business which is strong and sustainable, which our people are proud to work for, and which makes a positive contribution to society.
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