No further action to be taken against Equitable Life actuaries

Actuaries involved in the Equitable Life scandal will not face any further action, a disciplinary board has announced.

There is "no realistic prospect" that a tribunal would make an adverse finding against actuaries from the Government Actuary's Department and Ernst & Young, the Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board (AADB) said.

Its investigation into an Ernst & Young actuary in connection with the audits of Equitable Life, as well as a probe into what advice was given by people who worked in the Government Actuary's Department to regulators about the matter, will be closed, it said.

Equitable Life policyholders have already been promised compensation by the Government.

Around £1.5 billion has been set aside to compensate policyholders at the society after the Parliamentary Ombudsman identified 10 instances of maladministration by both regulators and Whitehall officials in relation to Equitable Life in the period leading to December 2001.

Policyholders at Equitable Life lost an estimated £4.3 billion, money they would have had if they were with another institution.

AADB is part of the Financial Reporting Council. It is independent of the professions it disciplines and operates in the public interest.

PA