PFA issued with an enforcement order by the Danish FSA
PFA has been issued, and chosen to comply, with an enforcement order regarding the company’s communication and promotion material about PFA CustomerCapital.
The Danish FSA has issued PFA Pension with an enforcement order about adjusting information and marketing material concerning PFA CustomerCapital in order for the material to provide a more balanced description of advantages and disadvantages. Among other things, it must be clarified that Individual CustomerCapital is risk capital, which the customers, at the limit, can lose. Furthermore, it must be clearly stated how the return from Individual CustomerCapital works in order to illustrate for the customers that it may vary from one year to the next, and that the high return up until now not isa guarantee of future returns.
Dorthe Bundgaard, Vice President of PFA’s Legal Department, says that PFA will take note of the Danish FSA’s decision. PFA will now go through and adjust the description of CustomerCapital in PFA’s information and promotion material and thereafter contact the Danish FSA.
“For PFA, it is about making sure that the customers make informed decisions about their pension plans so that they are comfortable with our advisory services and that they can rely on us”. If the Danish FSA finds that our material on CustomerCapital in some cases may cause misunderstandings, it is in the interest of both PFA and the customers that this is corrected,” Dorthe Bundgaard says.
She underlines that it is important for PFA to communicate in a way so that the customers both understand their products, and, at the same time, are informed about potential risks.
“As a pension company, we often communicate with our customers about technical and difficult subjects, and therefore, our job is to continuously look into how we can combine the need for technical accuracy with the need for comprehensibility. However, simplification must not affect the balance in the message, and in relation to CustomerCapital, it is, as mentioned, important that the customers understand that there are possibilities for an extra return as well as a risk of losses,” Dorthe Bundgaard concludes.
She has now set up a task force with the purpose of reviewing information and promotion material about CustomerCapital, so that PFA no later than mid-January 2017 can inform the Danish FSA how the enforcement has been complied with.