Santander UK has stopped selling structured products through its adviser unit as part of a wider move that has suspended all the bank's advisers from giving investment advice for six weeks.
The bank has also sent 800 staff for re-training in a move to address shortcomings discovered through 'mystery shopping' visits by the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA).
A spokesperson for Santander told SRP that the decision to provide additional training was made voluntarily and that the bank is taking time to consider the correct solution for its stakeholders, ahead of the implementation of the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) in January.
"As part of this process it was identified that our advisers require additional support and training to meet the expected standards," she said. "We will therefore be undertaking an additional intensive bespoke training programme. We apologise to customers for any inconvenience this may cause them."
The same source told SRP that the measure will not affect its private banking brand and that Cater Allen will continue to market structured products.
"This applies to Santander as a retail brand only and not Cater Allen, our intermediary brand, which continues to sell structured products through intermediaries," she said.
Santander UK's Cater Allen Bank launched its first RDR-ready structured deposit to cater for advisers who switched to advice charging models in October.
A number of UK high street banks have exited the advisory market or closed their financial adviser teams to meet the overhaul of the financial advice industry, triggered by the RDR.
Some of the firms exiting the intermediary arena include Lloyds Banking Group, the Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC and Barclays - which since the start of 2011 has offered advice only to high net worth clients, and has also launched a tailored service to meet the new requirements.
From January 2013, independent financial advisers (IFAs) will not be able to receive commission from firms on whose products they advise. Furthermore, IFAs will be required to move to a fee system and pass a set of qualification in order to continue providing advice to retail clients.