INVESTMENT watchdog the Personal Investment Authority has fined an Oxfordshire firm which operates a network of financial advisers £250,000 over its handling of pension mis-selling cases.

Countrywide Independent Advisers, which operates from Oasis Park, in Stanton Harcourt Road, Eynsham, was also ordered to pay the PIA's costs of £5,000.

The firm, which has no connection with Banbury-based public relations firm Countrywide, operates a national network of about 1,500 advisers through 800 appointed representative firms.

It admitted the findings, which included:

Failing to initially identify correctly the number of pension mis-selling cases for review

Failing to verify the accuracy of information provided to Countrywide by its appointed representatives

Failing to categorise correctly investors into priority and non-priority groups

Failing to keep an eye on pensions business undertaken by its appointed representatives before joining Countrywide.

The PIA said it had fixed the penalty after taking into account that Countrywide admitted the failings at the earliest opportunity and had agreed to settle.

And it pointed out that the firm had now substantially increased its resources for carrying out the pensions review.

It had also written to a large number of clients following the PIA's inspection visit in August last year.

The PIA said the action took account of the fact that Countrywide failed to meet the December 31 deadline when it should have completed 90 per cent of the top priority cases, which included cases of people who had died or who had already retired.

No-one was available to comment at the firm.

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