David Rubin and Partners has been appointed to liquidate MJS Capital (now known as Colarb Capital).
MJS collapsed early in 2018 and was finally put into liquidation in March 2019. It allegedly took £30 million from bondholders.
After a five-way beauty parade between rival insolvency practitioners seeking the appointment, David Rubin & Partners was given the job last month, according to a recent filing with Companies House.
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Liberty House Capital are currently marketing a three year investment in “Artesian Water” offering 6.4% income per year with “up to 30% aggregate return” after three years.
The investment is substantially identical to an investment promoted by Hanover Merchant Capital which I reviewed in June last year.
Continue reading for a review of Liberty House Capital’s investment in Artesian Water.
Krono Partners went into administration in September 2018. Unusually for an unregulated investment going into administration, its management claims there are more than sufficient assets to meet its debts, but after bank accounts operated for the company by Jade State Wealth were frozen, it became unable to maintain payments to investors.
The last update revealed that the repayment of investors’ funds was almost entirely dependent on a “Company X” operating an Exchange Traded Note platform, in which Krono had invested in return for a cut of any funds raised via that platform.
As at the latest update, filed by the administrators Smith & Williamson in April 2019, no such cuts have yet been received. Indeed the only funds recovered since the last update are £4,041 in cash in the bank.
The FCA has issued a warning over Asset Life plc. The warning begins:
We believe this firm has been providing financial services or products in the UK without our authorisation. Find out why to be especially wary of dealing with this unauthorised firm and how to protect yourself from scammers.Continue reading...
Satchi Wealth is offering three-year unregulated bonds paying interest as follows:
The law firm Shearman & Sterling has written a letter this week to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, outlining a new legal justification for compensating London Capital & Finance en masse. Shearman & Sterling are reportedly acting pro bono for some LCF investors.
At the heart of their argument is a recent clarification by the FSCS that investors with a claim relating to FCA-regulated activities carried out by LCF are still covered by the FSCS even if LCF was not authorised to carry out that activity.
The specific activity in question was regulated advice.
Over the last month or so, LCF investors have been encouraged to pore over emails and rack their brains in case they can argue that they received investment advice from LCF call centre workers to invest in LCF minibonds. This would constitute misselling, which would open the doors to the FSCS.
Unfortunately, this is a low-percentage strategy which will not help the vast majority of LCF investors. The fact that some call centre workers may have gone off-message in order to close a deal does not change the fact that LCF was not a financial advice firm, did not advertise financial advice, was not authorised to give advice, and employed no advisers with recognised financial advice qualifications.
However, the fact that the FSCS will potentially pay out for claims in relation to regulated activities, regardless of whether LCF was authorised to carry out those activities, has inevitably raised the question: what if LCF was carrying out other regulated activities which would cover all LCF investors?
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Signature Capital offers a range of unregulated property investments.
As at March 2019, these investments included an investment in the Dixie Dean Hotel paying 12% over 12 months, and an investment in The Signature Flotel paying 12% over 12 months (with a higher minimum investment).
I have seen an email detailing a further investment in the Martins Bank project paying 10% per year for investments between £15k and £45k, rising to 16% per year for investments of over £250,000.
Signature Capital frequently changes the individual properties on which its investments are based. However the interest rates above are typical of their offerings, based on previous offerings which are now "sold out".
Continue reading for a review of Signature Capital's investments.
