How to complain about a member June 2014
How to complain about a member June 2014 How to complain about a member We regulate our members to ensure our members adhere to their professional requirements and to maintain public confidence in our members. Our complaints process We have an independent disciplinary board which oversees the disciplinary procedures and processes. The Board comprises six Fellows, with three lay members (non-members), and the Chair is one of the lay members. How to make an allegation We consider allegations to the effect that an individual member (or former member) has been guilty of professional misconduct. Misconduct is defined at rule 1.6 of the disciplinary scheme and includes any conduct, whether committed in the UK or elsewhere, in the course of carrying out professional duties or otherwise constituting failure by that member to comply with the standards of behaviour, integrity, competence or professional judgement which other members or the public might reasonably expect of a member having regard to the Rules and Bye-laws and/or relevant standards or guidance. We only investigate allegations about members (and former members) of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, and therefore do not investigate complaints about organisations. Similarly, we do not investigate policy-level issues which do not give rise to an allegation of misconduct about an individual member. We do not have the power to award compensation of any sort to someone who raises an allegation about a member. We exercise a disciplinary jurisdiction in the public interest. You can check whether someone is a member by visiting http://www.actuaries.org.uk/members or you can contact the membership team on +44 (0)131 240 1325. You can discuss a problem with us but we cannot give you advice on whether it is appropriate for you to refer an allegation or not. If you decide to proceed with an allegation against a member you should write to us giving as much of the following information as you can, for example: full name and address of the member or members concerned details of what, in your view, the member has done wrong, and which you believe may constitute misconduct in terms of our disciplinary scheme. Please set out the facts as clearly as you can, in a logical order, focussing on those facts which are relevant to the matter dates when the events took place that you describe copies of any relevant papers names and addresses of anyone who could support your complaint from their own personal knowledge. You can download and use the ‘form for referral of allegation about member(s)’ from our website (www.actuaries.org.uk) to help you. However, you do not have to submit this form, we will consider your allegation as long as you make it in writing and you name one of our members. 1 How we deal with an allegation We are firstly required to consider whether the matter complained of is already the subject of 1 investigation by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) as a 'public interest' case, or potentially falls within the FRC's Guidelines for referral to, or call-in, of cases as raising a matter affecting the 'public interest' in the UK. If so, we are unable to take the matter any further under our disciplinary scheme. We will notify you and the FRC will take over the allegation. All other allegations against individual members of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries are dealt with under the disciplinary scheme. Unless the matter is called-in by the FRC as described above, we will investigate all relevant allegations about individual members (or former members ) of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries that we receive. An allegation may be made by a member of the public, another member, the police, or any other party provided that it is about a named member who is or has been a member of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (or a member of the Institute of Actuaries and/or the Faculty of 2 Actuaries in Scotland as they were known prior to 1 August 2010) . A case manager, who will be a member of our staff, will be appointed to each investigation and they will be your main contact. All allegations are referred to the Chair of the pool of investigation actuaries, who will normally appoint an investigation actuary, from the pool, to assist the case manager as required during the investigation. The case manager and the investigation actuary are supported by a lawyer and have a duty to undertake a thorough and fair investigation. They will prepare a case report setting out the facts, and containing the papers you sent us about your allegation and the response from the member complained about. You are not entitled to see the case report, but you may be given an opportunity to review the allegations in the case report. However, if during the course of an investigation the case manager and investigation actuary consider that the allegation, if found proven, would not disclose a prima facie case of misconduct, they may submit an advisory report to an adjudication panel, setting out a recommendation that the investigation be discontinued. The adjudication panel can either accept this recommendation and dismiss the allegation or they can refer the allegation back to the case manager and investigation actuary for further investigation and/or the submission of a case report. Interim orders In some cases, the case manager and investigation actuary may decide to apply for an interim order for the imposition of a period of supervised practice, suspension of any Practising Certificate held by the member concerned, or suspension of that member's membership of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, while the investigating team carries out its investigation. The decision on such an application will be taken by an interim orders panel, comprising two actuaries and one lay person (non-actuary). An interim order, in advance of a disciplinary tribunal panel hearing, can be made only if the panel considers that it is warranted by the seriousness of the alleged misconduct and upon the basis of sufficient prima facie evidence. You would not usually be invited to appear before an interim orders panel, which meets in private. The member concerned has a right of appeal to the appeals tribunal against any interim order made against him or her. 1 The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) operates a disciplinary scheme for public interest cases involving actuaries, in order to implement a recommendation of the Morris Review of the Actuarial Profession in 2005. The FRC has issued guidelines about what constitutes a public interest matter. The guidelines can be found by visiting the FRC’s website at http://www.frc.org.uk/Our-Work/Conduct/Professional-discipline/Policies-and-guidance.aspx 2 Prior to 1 August 2010 two separate regulatory bodies existed called the Faculty of Actuaries in Scotland and the Institute of Actuaries. Allegations against former members of both these bodies fall under the jurisdiction of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries disciplinary scheme. 2 Adjudication Panel In most cases, upon completion of the investigation, the case manager and investigation actuary will prepare and sign off a case report for consideration by an adjudication panel which will set out the allegations and all relevant facts and information. The case report will not make any recommendation for action. The panel meets in private and, based solely on the case report, will decide if the member concerned may have committed misconduct and, if so, what action should be taken. If the panel considers that the complaint raises serious issues, it will refer it to the disciplinary tribunal panel. In less serious cases the panel can invite the member concerned to accept that he/she has committed misconduct and may additionally invite her/him to accept one or more of the following sanctions: reprimand fine up to a maximum limit set by the disciplinary board period of education, retraining or supervised practice, aimed to prevent recurrence of any mistakes that have come to light in the investigation of the complaint. If the member accepts this invitation the matter ends there. If the member does not accept the invitation then the complaint is referred to a disciplinary tribunal panel. The adjudication panel may also decide to take no action against the member. Independent Examiner If no action is taken on your complaint, and you are dissatisfied with the decision, you may apply for review by the independent examiner - a lay person. However, there are certain grounds under which a referral must be made and if it does not meet any of these grounds, the independent examiner will not accept the referral. There is no charge for such a review, and the independent examiner may uphold the panel's decision or send back the case report for reconsideration by an adjudication panel, but cannot overturn the decision of a panel. Expedited Procedure However, the case manager and investigation actuary may consider that the issues raised by the allegation are so serious that it is in the interest of the public and/or the Institute and Faculty to refer the matter directly to a disciplinary tribunal panel, rather than to an adjudication panel which has a lower range of sanctions to impose. In such a situation the case manager and investigation actuary shall notify the member that they intend to refer the matter directly to a disciplinary tribunal panel. If the member agrees to the matter being referred directly to a disciplinary tribunal panel, then a charge will be prepared and the matter will proceed to a disciplinary tribunal panel - see below for further information regarding disciplinary tribunal panels. If the member does not agree then it will be referred to the convenor of the adjudication panels who will direct, having considered submissions from both sides and having regard to the factors set out in Rule 3.13 (g) of the disciplinary scheme, whether the matter is to be referred directly to a disciplinary tribunal panel. 3 Disciplinary Tribunal Panel Matters referred to a disciplinary tribunal panel become part of a formal charge of misconduct, and are heard in public at a meeting which the member is invited to attend. If the disciplinary tribunal panel finds the charge proved, it can impose one or more of the following penalties: reprimand a suspension from membership of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries for up to two years period of education, retraining and/or supervised practice expulsion from membership of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries for up to five years exclusion from readmission to membership (if their membership has lapsed for any reason) for up to five years suspension or withdrawal of their Practising Certificate(s) exclusion from holding a Practising Certificate for a maximum of five years fine; there is no maximum limit defined by the disciplinary board, but the fine, like any sanction, must be proportionate to the offence. You cannot appeal against the decision of a disciplinary tribunal panel. What happens if I withdraw my allegation? If at any stage prior to the completion of the investigation you decide to withdraw your allegation, the case manager and investigation actuary will consider whether the investigation should be discontinued or whether it is in the public interest/interest of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries for the investigation to continue. If it is thought that the investigation should not continue, the case manager and investigation actuary will prepare an advisory report setting out their recommendations and this will be considered by an adjudication panel. If the adjudication panel agree with the recommendations they will dismiss the allegation. If the adjudication panel do not agree with the recommendations contained within the advisory report they will refer the matter back to the case manager and investigation actuary for further consideration and/or the submission of a case report. Compensation We cannot award compensation to you. Only the courts can award compensation. Mediation You may also wish to consider mediation. Some issues may arise because of misunderstanding, or a lack of communication and before making an allegation, you may want to consider whether the matter, or some elements of it, may be resolved through mediation. Mediation is a process whereby an experienced and neutral third party mediator assists parties in resolving disputes. Respecting your privacy We will need to handle some of your personal information, such as your name, address, and the nature of your allegation. We will send a copy of your allegation and any correspondence from you in relation to the investigation to the member you name. We will respect your privacy during the investigation and at the adjudication stage. However, hearings before the disciplinary tribunal panels and appeals tribunal panels are public, and you may be identified at these hearings. 4 Who else can help? Our disciplinary investigation team can only consider allegations against individual actuaries. However, there are a very small number of firms regulated by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries in relation to certain types of investment business under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. For more details about this, please email: [email protected] or call +44 (0)131 240 1328. You can also contact: Financial Ombudsman Service (http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/) can help with complaints about most financial matters involving products and services provided in (or from) the UK. The areas they cover include banking, insurance, pensions, saving and investments, credit cards and store cards, loans and credit, hire purchasing, financial advice, stocks, shares, unit trusts and bonds. Tel: +44 (0)845 080 1800. Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) (http://www.fca.org.uk/) regulates financial services firms in the UK. The Prudential Regulation Authority is responsible for the micro-prudential regulation of systemically important firms, including banks, insurers and certain investment firms, and the FCA is the conduct regulator for these firms. The FCA is also the prudential and conduct regulator for all other financial services firms in the UK. The FCA’s key aim is to ensure financial markets work well so consumers get a fair deal. The FCA does not investigate individual consumer complaints, 3 but it has a recommended complaints process for consumers to follow. Tel: (UK) 0800 111 6768 (freephone), from abroad: +44 (0)20 7066 1000. Pensions Advisory Service (http://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/) is an independent non-profit organisation that is grant-aided by the Department for Work and Pensions. The Pensions Advisory Service provides information, advice and guidance on the whole spectrum of pensions covering State, company, personal and stakeholder schemes. They also help any member of the public who has a problem, complaint or dispute with their occupational or private pension arrangement. In some cases they may correspond with a pension scheme on your behalf to help resolve matters. These could include discrepancies with benefit payments or disagreement with certain decisions made by the trustees. The Pensions Advisory Service can also provide advice on taking a complaint to the Pensions Ombudsman. The service provided by the Pensions Advisory Service is free and is provided by a nationwide network of volunteer advisers. Tel: +44 (0)845 601 2923. Pensions Ombudsman (http://www.pensions-ombudsman.org.uk/) deals with complaints about the running of pension schemes that have not been resolved by the scheme's own complaints procedure or by the Pensions Advisory Service. The Pensions Ombudsman has the power to make a final decision on a complaint. The Ombudsman will investigate the case and reach a decision that is legally binding on you and the pension scheme. Tel: +44 (0)20 7834 9144. The Pensions Regulator (http://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/) is the regulatory body for work-based pension schemes in the UK. It replaced Opra in 2005. The Pensions Regulator regulates the administration of pension schemes, but not the selling of pensions. If you believe that your scheme may not be complying with pensions legislation, you can report the scheme to the Pensions Regulator. The Pensions Regulator suggest that if you have a query or problem with your pension scheme, you should always begin by trying to sort it out with the scheme itself and you should contact the scheme trustees as they are responsible for running the scheme. If this does not resolve the problem, the pension scheme will have a dispute resolution service you can use. If you are not satisfied with the response, you can contact the Pensions Advisory Service. Tel: +44 (0)870 606 3636. 3 http://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/complaints 5 Contact Details For information about investigations The Disciplinary Investigation Team (or your Case Manager) Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Level 2 Exchange Crescent 7 Conference Square Edinburgh EH3 8RA Telephone: +44 (0)131 240 1300 E-mail: [email protected] For information about Adjudication Panels, Interim Order Panels, Disciplinary Tribunal Panels and Appeal Tribunal The Secretary to the Judicial Committees Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Holborn Gate 7th Floor 326-330 High Holborn London WC1V 7PP Telephone: +44 (0)20 7632 2189 Email: [email protected] For Applications to the Independent Examiner The Independent Examiner c/o The Chief Executive’s Office Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Holborn Gate 7th Floor 326-330 High Holborn London WC1V 7PP Telephone: +44 (0)20 7632 2116 Email: [email protected] For copies of the disciplinary scheme or any other information: Copies may be downloaded from the website or printed copies are available free of charge. Please visit our website: http://www.actuaries.org.uk/regulation/pages/complaints Telephone: 0131 240 1300 Write, or e-mail, to either of the addresses given above. Putting things right If you are unhappy with the way we have dealt with you please tell us. Concerns will always be treated seriously. Procedures for handling feedback (including complaints) about the investigation process, adjudication and tribunal procedures under the disciplinary scheme are set out in the note 4 ‘Putting things right’ on the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries website . June 2014 4 http://www.actuaries.org.uk/about-us/pages/about-us 6
© Copyright 2024