FSA fined IFAs £941k in seven months.

The FSA fined IFAs nearly a million pounds in the seven months to July, over three times as much as the whole of 2009.

Figures obtained by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services show the regulator fined IFAs £941,500 in the year to the end of July.

This amounts to 1.5% of the total £62.7m of fines levied by the FSA to date and compares to £35m for the whole of 2009, of which IFA fines made up £236,676 or 0.7%.

Wolters Kluwer says the swollen total for 2010 reflects the FSA's increased pressure on IFAs as it gears up for the RDR implementation.

Last month, the FSA fined an IFA N-Hanced £21,000 for pension switching failings, the fourth IFA firm to face action following the regulator's widespread review of pension switching advice.

"You will see that even though we are only part way through 2010, the fines percentage is well over double last year's final," says Wolters.

Asset management, a sector which escaped any FSA penalties last year, has so far been slapped with fines of £98,000.

The mortgage sector saw a million pound fall in fines compared to last year, though was still leveled with £2.5m in penalties.

In July, Skipton-based lender Redstone Mortgages was fined £630,000 and ordered to pay customer redress for unfairly treating customers in arrears.

Banking has been hardest hit by FSA fines. Over £41m was clawed from the sector in the months to July, up from just over £21m for the whole of 2009.

Last month, David Jones, a former finance director at bailed-out bank Northern Rock, was banned and fined £320,000 by the FSA for misreporting arrears figures.