Portfolio Adviser: Will the FCA’s response to Link failures change the role of ACDs?

The Transparency Task Force has called into question the suitability of the Financial Conduct Authority’s action against Link Fund Solutions in deterring future mismanagement by authorised corporate directors (ACDs).

The FCA’s action against Link came in the form of an 83-page final notice which found the firm failed to act with “due skill, care and diligence” in its overseeing of the Woodford Equity Income fund (Weif).

The regulator found that LFS failed to properly manage the liquidity of the fund between 31 July 2018 and the fund’s suspension on 3 June 2019.

Bev Shah, co-CEO of City Hive, said that the action taken, when coupled with additional oversight of behaviours through Consumer Duty, should not just improve standards but also expand the scope of what ACDs are monitoring.