Dolphin Trust is kaputt, FCA / FOS / FSCS confirm in joint statement

A joint announcement by the FCA, FOS and FSCS has confirmed that Dolphin Trust (which recently renamed itself to Generic, I mean German Property Group) has entered preliminary bankruptcy proceedings in Germany.

The F-pack encourages investors who invested in Dolphin via an FCA-regulated SIPP or financial adviser to make formal complaints.

Dolphin’s bankruptcy comes as little surprise. Repayment problems started in late 2018, and an administrator was appointed as problems mounted, who said in August 2020 that Dolphin’s accounts were a “total mess”.

Dolphin Trust bonds were extensively flogged to UK investors via a cast of dubious characters including unregulated introducers and pension liberation fraud schemes such as London Quantum. Dolphin Trust paid out up to 20% of investor funds as commission, according to the BBC.

The unregulated investments were also sold to investors in Ireland and South Korea, where the scandal claimed the head of a prominent bank CEO.

How do I get my money back from Dolphin Trust / German Property Group?

As the FCA has indicated, if you were advised to invest in Dolphin by an FCA-regulated company, or invested via an FCA-regulated pension provider, you may be able to recover your money by making a formal complaint to them.

If the company refuses to provide compensation, the complaint can be taken to the Financial Ombudsman, which can order compensation up to a defined limit. If the company is unable to pay, you would be covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £85,000 per person.

Investors should avoid Claims Management Companies (CMCs) as they are unnecessary, often have a lower success rate than direct complaints, and charge eye-watering fees. The FOS and FSCS process is slow but straightforward.

Otherwise the standard procedure is to write off the investment and treat any recovery as a bonus.

If anyone contacts you claiming they can get your money back from Dolphin / GPG (other than via the above channels), it is a scam.