Our Swindling Finance Houses: their exploitation of the vulnerableThe financial services industry has never been exposed before in all its guile and deceit. This is probably because the present book is an insider's view, by one of the many unemployed enmeshed by the false promises of the industry.This is a step-by-step account by someone who was drawn into the industry - despite initial scepticism - describing the sleight of hand and fraudulent promises used by a major company against its own prospective and actual sales staff. Filled with sardonic humour and unforgettable character sketches, there are horrific stories of those inveigled into huge loans and second mortgages with no chances of repayment, and all cleverly pursued as part of the company's strategic policy.Ingenious psychological techniques are employed by this household name in the financial services field to ensure the entrapment of their Sales Associates, often leading to a ruinous debt situation and despair. The book reveals how basically decent and honest people, trusting in the overall integrity of the business process, are drawn into the industry, corrupted, and then made to act in a dishonest way - even if only unintentionally.The editor's Introduction interprets the company's rationale as due to the fraudulent aspect of the financial services themselves, arising from the introduction of unit-linked policies fluctuating in line with the value of the unit trusts in which the premiums are invested, as contrasted with the safe conventional policies of an earlier era. Consequently, the selling of the new-style policies became dependent on computer models of past performance having little relevance with the real world in demonstrating the future. This is a criticism which goes far beyond the well-publicised "e;mis-selling"e; of Personal Pension Plans, PEPs, and other policies. In view of the high-risk nature of the policies themselves, the personality of prospective sales people needed to be broken down and made malleable in "e;living with,"e; let alone promoting, questionable practices, which came to be perceived as the common norm of truth. Hype and inflated promises were used as a mask to cover deceitful aspects of the industry.The final chapter draws up proposals for safeguarding the unemployed - the main recruitment target of the industry and the most vulnerable sector of our population - and for reforming the financial services industry. The industry should be made into a profession with proper academic training, and the corrupting profit motive has to be removed if the public are to benefit from best advice. |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
advertising Advisers agents allegations Allied Dunbar arrangement asked assurance Baker basis BAT Industries Bob Stokes branch building societies Business Plan career cheque clients commission company’s contracts corporate sector course Cyril Dibben debts deceit desk director Dominic Hobson Eagle Star earnings Efficiency Development Unit employment fact Fastrak FEP payments financial institutions financial services industry Ford Scorpio fraud Fred Fish Guy Tallice Harry James headless chickens I’ld Income Required Summary Joel Joffe Largo Industries later letter loan manager meeting misrepresentation monthly months mortgage never offer organisation Personal Pension plan Ponchester office promises prospective received Reggie Thompson rentier capitalism replied responsible Roger du Prey Ron Evans Sales Associates Sea of Fog self-employed selling Senior Falcon Sir Mark Weinberg situation soon success swindled Swindon Ted Morley There’s Tittleton office told unemployed weeks What’s whilst wife