Sesame: Other firms use 'pay-to-play' schemes too

Sesame is "not alone" in selling places on its restricted panel of product providers to the highest bidder, executive chairman John Cowan has said, as the network reels from a £1.6m fine for the banned practice.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) found Sesame had set up what it termed a 'pay-to-play' scheme. That meant the range of products recommended to Sesame clients under its restricted advice service was influenced by the amount product providers were willing to pay Sesame for certain services. Such a scheme "undermined the ban on commission payments brought in by the Retail Distribution Review (RDR)" at the end of 2012, the FCA said, though up-front payments from product providers to secure a place on distribution firms' ‘recommend lists' has been censured repeatedly by the regulator...