Should I expect a financial adviser to keep my finances confidential?

Simby

steampowered wrote: »

Could the financial adviser attempt to rely on the exemptions in Regulation 6(1)(b) and (c) of the GDPR, which permit processing of personal data as follows?

"processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party"

"processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the controller or by a third party"

As others have pointed out, knowledge of each spouse's financial situation is necessary to provide complete/proper financial advice.

Even if there is a GDPR breach here, it is very minor and in understandable circumstances. The chances of the IFA being fined or punished are close to zero.

I must admit I am shocked that sharing of information to an unauthorized party is minor.. presumable to have an IFA it is reasonable to assume there are savings assets etc.. mortgage fraud and loan fraud within families is not unheard of and the IFA is Just sharing confidential information without seemingly any care...

It is for a couple to decide if they want to share their financial status with each other not a third party...

danm

the OP was concerned about confidentiality. - maybe she has considered this, but are they (both her and husband) happy that the advice has been given based on the circumstances they require.












If they wish for their finances to be considered as separate, then do their individual portfolios reflect that, given in many aspects it seems the advisor considers them as a single entity.

james_09

Accidentally cc’ing 200 people in the same email with their HIV status disclosed, then making the same mistake again a few months later.

Large charities gathering personal data on people making high donations and then selling it other charities so they can be targeted without their permission.

Leaking millions of people’s login user names and passwords....

.....Accidentally sending joint information to a husband and wife, because 99% of your other clients have joint statements.

A simple phone call saying you want to keep your financial affairs separate in future is all this calls for. Or if you are really unhappy find another IFA.

Simby

If they were seen separately and the IFA is advising on single for each not joint investments managed by the IFA then this is serious. A joint investment statement should go to both parties like a bank sends a joint account statement, a sole investment should be disclosed only to that investor.

Actually to me far more serious then all of the examples above, I do not care if a stranger gets my hiv status accidentally they don’t know me so can do nothing with the information, I care if my doctor discloses it to my family, passwords email addresses, just change them the hackers do not have your other info so less dangerous.

A family member would have enough other information to then commit fraud by getting the information e.g financial instructions , balance , transaction information, to then pass with other info they would have such as DOB mothers maiden name phone number maybe even national insurance number.

I am surprised what the IFA had done is not judged as criminal as there is a clear loss and breach of confidentiality. How would you feel if your bank told your family about your loans , savings held in your sole name? If you had a debt and the debt collector disclosed it to your spouse, neighbour, flatmate, mother, son etc...

Maybe you know your spouses financial information, maybe you have joint assets that is your choice. maybe you claim tax benefits available if you choose to have joint finances, not everyone does. Maybe you know your spouses income , not everyone chooses to disclose this information. Maybe you share your income with your spouse and buy things jointly not everyone does. You can for example choose to have a joint holiday with one financing it, choose a holiday and if the spouse cannot pay their way just go yourself as a single holiday. Not everyone is willing to subsidize there spouse some expect spouses to pay their share e,g if they go for dinner they add up what each ordered and split the bill, if one can not afford their share then they don’t go or the spouse who cannot afford it does without.

I have never finance anything for my spouse if he cannot pay he does not go end of, or he asks to borrow the money and then pays it back. So in retirement if I have a good income and he has a state pension I will have holidays nights out etc.. he will not. If he cannot afford a steak for dinner then he will have to buy something else for himself. Likewise I would not accept subsidies from my spouse. We have bills individually nothing joint and if he did not for example pay his amount on the broadband I would change the password I would expect him to do the same if the situation were reversed. That would be a whole lot harder and lead to arguments if some IFA disclosed finances to another party.

Imagine your spouse wanted to borrow money and you said no but your IFA told them you had the money ... the ramifications of this are huge.

How would you view it if the IFA told the ops flatmate, mother, son, grandfather, neighbour? The spouse is no less entitled to privacy then any other citizen. Marriage does not make you liable for someone’s else’s debts the credit card company can only pursue you not you spouse, parent, neighbour, the debt collector cannot take your assets for your family’s debts ( unless it’s a joint debt) , bankruptcy is for one person not a family, how is this different with savings or assets.

The choice to disclose their finances has been taken away from them and cannot be reversed.

I am simply amazed anyone could think this was in any way acceptable.

atush

notbrokeyet wrote: »

Thanks, that’s what I thought .
I would have expected to be asked to give my express permission.
It’s not the first time he has discussed my affairs with my husband. Am I being unreasonable?

No, you are not being unreasonable.

Simby

However I thank the op for this thread, myself and hubby read this together and have now taken some steps to ensure this can never happen to us.

We have both got ourselves P.O. Boxes and changed our details with our financial organizations to ensure there are no common addresses that could be accidentally linked,

We have confirmed we are using different share brokers and different platforms.

We were accidentally using the same bank for current accounts, ( our own accounts not joint) I have closed my account and moved to a different bank.

We have both removed next of kin details from all policies with contact details of the spouse, so there is never any danger of anything being disclosed.

We already use different IFAs.

We do not claim any tax benefits and both just have a single person tax allowance. We have spoken to the tax office and ensured we are separate and no tax benefits are being claimed.

I have advised my solicitor who holds my title deeds under no circumstances must anything ever be disclosed to anyone but me, I have informed my IFA of the same in writing.

I have put a marker on all credit agencies to prevent any credit being applied for without a manual process ...

We will be completing another post nup to ensure wishes are clear, we are now documenting that neither spouse supports the other by so much as a cup of coffee. We have redone wills to ensure it is clear neither party can inherit from the other .. I will put my property into joint names with my mother to protect it and my husband is putting his house into joint names with his cousin to protect it.

atush

Thanks for all your replies. The financial adviser was introduced to me by my husband but there was no joint discussion regarding our finances. Six months ago I needed to withdraw money from my ISA account, the adviser did not act on my instructions immediately, but did so after discussing it with my husband which really annoyed me. It was to fund a house purchase not to buy handbags or whatever.
Most of you seemed to be saying that I should have explicitly said I did not want my finances discussed with my husband at the start. Well I work in the health service where there is a presumption of confidentiality unless the patient says otherwise so to be honest I expected the same.
We have a good relationship but my husband can be controlling when it comes to money and I think it should be for me to decide not my financial adviser, I don’t think that’s unduly secretive.
I can’t believe I’m really that unusual.
It’s still not clear whether this is a]

This was a clear breach of GDPR and a complaint should be filed. An ISA is not a joint account, and at no time should your wishes not be acted on and discussed with your spouse. Did you suffer any loss when he didnt sell immediately? Ie did prices drop?

Can you get online access to your IsA and make your own trades?

I think you need a different IFA, this one is a dinosaur.

atush

james_09 wrote: »

There is absolutely zero chance of the IFA getting fined, or any kind of investigation for this, even if reported. In fact even if he had accidentally sent it to the wrong address and a complete stranger opened it, I doubt there would be any chance of a fine.

The ICO publish a list of all fines levied and you will not find a single example of any organisation/individual being fined for anything this small.

I disagree. There was a fineable offence committed when the
ISA sale was not acted upon and discussed with the other party.

Sea_Shell

Simby wrote: »

However I thank the op for this thread, myself and hubby read this together and have now taken some steps to ensure this can never happen to us.

We have both got ourselves P.O. Boxes and changed our details with our financial organizations to ensure there are no common addresses that could be accidentally linked,

We have confirmed we are using different share brokers and different platforms.

We were accidentally using the same bank for current accounts, ( our own accounts not joint) I have closed my account and moved to a different bank.

We have both removed next of kin details from all policies with contact details of the spouse, so there is never any danger of anything being disclosed.

We already use different IFAs.

We do not claim any tax benefits and both just have a single person tax allowance. We have spoken to the tax office and ensured we are separate and no tax benefits are being claimed.

I have advised my solicitor who holds my title deeds under no circumstances must anything ever be disclosed to anyone but me, I have informed my IFA of the same in writing.

I have put a marker on all credit agencies to prevent any credit being applied for without a manual process ...

We will be completing another post nup to ensure wishes are clear, we are now documenting that neither spouse supports the other by so much as a cup of coffee. We have redone wills to ensure it is clear neither party can inherit from the other .. I will put my property into joint names with my mother to protect it and my husband is putting his house into joint names with his cousin to protect it.

Are you being serious or sarcastic?? There are no winky emojis, so I'm guessing serious. Really!!!??

Simby

Yes I was being entirely serious...

I am actually at a loss as to why any couple would share finances in any way.. I get people do and chose to have joint mortgages etc.., just never seen any advantages only disadvantages and possible risk to your credit score and personal future.

The ops story really worried me that an IFA would disclose my private data which is what GDPR is supposed to protect again, and I was simply amazed people thought this was minor , if I can’t trust an IFA then I have taken measures to ensure the same thing as happened to the op can never happen to me.