US insurer Cica is fined £5.6m

The Combined Insurance Company of America, the US insurance group, and its Irish subsidiary have been fined a total of £5.6m for regulatory breaches.

The company, which sold accident and sickness insurance to thousands in the UK, must pay the Financial Services Authority £2.8m for putting its customers at risk of being treated unfairly by using a "high-risk" system of pay for its self-employed sales agents. Ireland's Central Bank also fined the company €3.35m (£2.8m).