Report into Equitable Life failure critical of regulators

Last Modified: 17 Jul 2008
By: Bridgid Nzekwu

The ombudsman's report into the failure of Equitable Life insurance attacks government regulators as ineffective and inappropriate.

"Largely ineffective and often inappropriate" - the ombudsman's verdict this morning on government regulators' efforts to cope with the escalating problems of Equitable Life in the run-up to the company's failure.

Ann Abraham has called on the government to apologise to policyholders and compensate more than one million of them for their lost savings.

The ombudsman's report comes more than seven years after the mutual insurer closed its doors after running into financial difficulties.

But the treasury said this morning that "the length and complexity of the report" meant that it would not be able to respond before the autumn.