Pembrokeshire Mortgage Centre has been handed a £2.4m fine for unsuitable transfer advice relating to a range of defined benefit (DB) schemes including the now-collapsed British Steel Pension Scheme (BSPS).

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on 2 December said that the firm in question - which formerly traded as County Financial Consultants - is already in liquidation. Preference to creditors will be given in the case of the fine in order to maximise funds available for redress.

In its final notice, the FCA said Pembrokeshire Mortgage Centre previously advised 420 consumers to transfer out of their DB scheme, with 93% agreeing with the advice given. Around two thirds of these clients were members of the old BSPS.

The regulator has calculated the firm picked up around £2m in transfer and ongoing advice fees under the now-defunct contingent charging structure of the time.

"Pembrokeshire Mortgage Centre advised hundreds of consumers to give up valuable DB pensions without any adequate justification or rationale, using generic, templated advice not tailored to the specific circumstances of their customers while earning fees in doing so," FCA executive director of enforcement and market oversight Mark Steward said. "The quality of advice seen here was woeful."

The FCA said the firm gave unsuitable advice "in about 60% of cases" which is a higher average than BSPS as a whole.

The FCA today said the firm's failings included the provision of "generic suitability reports that were not tailored to the circumstances of individual consumers and contained contradictory, misleading and confusing statements".

Steward added that the firm's failings "were particularly egregious in the context of the BSPS" due to customers' "unusually vulnerable position".

Pembrokeshire Mortgage Centre did not have enough resources to deal with the increase in cases caused by BSPS, the FCA confirmed, which further impacted the quality of advice it provided to clients.

The FCA's investigation into the involvement of other firms remains ongoing with it having this week confirmed a final redress and compensation scheme for victims.

It is now more than five years on from the incident which saw 8,000 British Steel workers - around 18% of eligible BSPS scheme members - transfer their benefits out of the old DB scheme to the less lucrative defined contribution arrangement after receiving financial advice that provided lucrative commission to advisers but was unsuitable for the circumstances of the majority.