Land of Leather chief executive Paul Briant has received an additional fine of£14,000 for failing to oversee properly the sale of PPI by the retailer.
Land of Leather became authorised to sell PPI in May 2006, but it is understood that it did not ensure all of its sales force were fully trained to sell PPI until November 2006. It continued to sell PPI at its 90 stores without any effective check until February 2007.
FSA director of enforcement Margaret Cole said: “Firms must not sell PPI unless they have appropriate systems and controls in place to ensure that their customers are treated fairly. We are determined that firms should change their behaviour in selling PPI and the fines against Land of Leather and Mr Briant show our determination in this area.”
The FSA said that Land of Leather exposed about 58,000 customers to an unacceptable increased risk of buying unsuitable PPI.
Cole added: “Mr Briant’s fine sends out a strong message that senior management are responsible for ensuring that their firm has robust and effective systems and controls and is complying with its regulatory obligations. Retail firms whose primary business is not selling general insurance will be held accountable to the same regulatory standards as the rest of the financial services industry.”
The firm and its senior management co-operated fully with the investigation. By agreeing to settle at an early stage, the firm qualified for a 30 per cent discount under the FSA's executive settlement procedures – without the discount the fine would have been£300,000. Likewise, Mr Briant qualified for a 30 per cent discount – without the discount his fine would have been£20,000.
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