Ashcourt Rowan: we will be the first of many fined over legacy

He added: 'Our section 166 goes back over a year. It was day two in the job that I found out was informed we were having one and now I am 14 months into that role,  It shows how long the process has taken.

'It is a huge undertaking for a business, not only the cost of the skilled persons review but the time that it takes....I think there could be a lot more than ours where the process will take longer, so there could be a series , I believe, going forward.'

A series of investigations by Wealth Manager has found that section 166, or skilled persons, orders, have cost some firms up to £2 million.  In some cases they have taken up to 500 hours to complete, with industry bodies like the Association of Private Client Stockbrokers (Apcims) warning that the FSA's use of these powers is no longer reserved for higher risk firms.

Moreover, incoming regulator the Financial Conduct Authority will be granted powers to order skilled persons reports more frequently once it replaces the FSA in 2013.