EMAG

The independent action group for current and ex Equitable Life policyholders, funded by contributions.

Equitable Members Action Group

Equitable Members Action Group Limited, a company limited by guarantee, number 5471535 registered in the UK

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Media Stories: 03/12/2005 - Daily Mail editorial about the danger to policyholders of a sell-off.

"Suffer the poor policyholholders."

Alex Brummer - City Editor of the Daily Mail
3 December, 2005

"After five years of turmoil, uncertainty and, in many cases, hardship one might have thought that Equitable Life policyholders have suffered enough. They have been ill-served by regulators, abandoned by the government and left in limbo by the Parliamentary Ombudsman……..

Now that the legal cases are out of the way, chairman Vanni Treves and chief executive Charles Thomson believe they have an exit pass. They are well on the way to parceling out the remains of Equitable to a series of buyers……………………..This carve up begs a number of questions…….…..If the great break-up is to take place, policyholders have a right to know much more about the costs and choices. Some estimates put the potential legal and advisory fees as high as £50m – yet another hit for policyholders and retirees.

But the sell-off is not the only option. The company could continue to run as a closed fund, largely invested in the safety of bond markets. It could have opted for the more adventurous solution by unitising its fund and heading back into equity markets, which over time yield the best returns. The suspicion must be that Treves is resisting these possibilities because he wants out as soon as possible.

In the days before the Financial Services Authority – when the governor of the Bank of England was still the eyebrow which counted in the City – you can bet your life that one of the good would have been drafted in to take on a leadership role and “do the right thing”.

Now, policyholders must rely again on the FSA which has failed them three times. It poorly supervised Equitable in the period leading to its closure. Its disciplinary action against Equitable executives was flimsy and it did nothing to advance the case for compensation.

Callum McCarthy and his FSA team have a solemn duty to make sure that any sale that takes place is properly scrutinized and does not deprive policyholders of what little they have left.”