Blackmore: director says only £5m left, FCA’s “Operation Dump It On Other Countries’ Doorsteps” is dismal failure

July 1, 2020June 29, 2020 ~ Brev ~ 4 Comments

Administrators Duff and Phelps have released their initial report into collapsed property minibond scheme Blackmore.

Of £46 million raised from investors, director Patrick McCreesh has estimated in a Statement of Affairs that less than £5 million is likely to be realised to pay them back.

MJS Capital update: most of investors’ £42 million written off by directors

June 16, 2020June 4, 2020 ~ Brev ~ 2 Comments

The liquidators of MJS Capital have released an update into the first year of its winding up.

In total MJS Capital raised £42 million from investors, including via unregulated introducers. Claims for £36 million have been received by the liquidators and they estimate a further £6 million is yet to be claimed.

Allansons LLP goes into voluntary liquidation

June 11, 2020June 9, 2020 ~ Brev ~ Leave a comment

Allansons LLP, the solicitors behind a collapsed investment scheme which offered returns of 50% over 6-18 months, described as "zero risk" and "100% secure" by its third-party introducers, has gone into voluntary liquidation.

Voluntary liquidation indicates that sole director Roger Allanson instigated the process rather than investors doing so.

Westway Holdings collapses into administration

June 1, 2020May 31, 2020 ~ Brev ~ 19 Comments

Westway Holdings has collapsed into administration, according to the Gazette.

Reviews left on Trustnet suggest the company stopped repaying investors around November 2019.

I reviewed Westway Holdings in January 2018 and concluded that, despite Westway's brochure claiming "income underpinned by Government allowances", its bonds were inherently high risk.

Administrators appointed to Signature Capital

May 5, 2020May 4, 2020 ~ Brev ~ 7 Comments

According to the Gazette, the parent company of Signature Capital, Signature Living Hotel Limited, has been put into administration.

Duff and Phelps were appointed as administrators. Other collapsed unregulated investment schemes currently administered by Duff and Phelps include Blackmore Bonds and Carlauren.

Emboldened LCF investors secure crowd funding for FSCS legal challenge

April 30, 2020April 30, 2020 ~ Brev ~ 3 Comments

After being denied compensation from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (other than a tiny handful of exceptions,) London Capital & Finance investors have raised money via crowdfunding to launch a judicial review.

As at 23rd April the campaign had already raised £7,833, exceeding its initial £7,000 target. Technically the campaign is to fund the judicial challenges of only the four LCF investors on the creditors' committee, but if their challenges succeed, this will set a precedent for the rest.

London Capital & Finance investors have been both emboldened and enraged by the FSCS' early indications that it will bail out investors in fellow collapsed minibond scheme Basset & Gold, which went into administration on 1 April.

FCA knew about misselling of Blackmore Bonds three years before collapse

April 29, 2020June 29, 2020 ~ Brev ~ 17 Comments

The collapse of Blackmore Bonds has once again laid bare the Financial Conduct Authority's institutional contempt for its objective of consumer protection.

Paul Carlier, an independent consultant most well known for blowing the whistle on dodgy FX dealings at Lloyds, contacted the FCA on March 2017 to warn them that Blackmore Bonds' high-risk investments were being missold by an unregulated introducer named Amyma.

Breaking: Blackmore Bonds collapses into administration

April 23, 2020April 23, 2020 ~ Brev ~ 24 Comments

After months of delayed and missing payments and failure to file legally-required accounts, Blackmore Bonds is finally to be taken out back and put out of investors' misery.

Administrators Duff and Phelps have been appointed by a security trustee (presumably Oak Fund Services (Guernsey) Limited), according to IFA trade rag Money Marketing. The news is little surprise as D&P were originally approached by Blackmore investors in January, seeking answers after months of delayed and missing interest payments.

Were Basset & Gold bonds risk-free after all?

April 14, 2020April 13, 2020 ~ Brev ~ 4 Comments

A couple of weeks ago West Ham sponsor Basset & Gold (reviewed here in December 2017) collapsed into administration.

So far so normal. Unregulated high risk investment fails, news at 11.

What was unusual about Basset & Gold is that back in 2018 at least, they were promoting their bonds while explicitly holding out that investors might be compensated by the FSCS if things went sour – on the basis of misselling.

Privilege Wealth administrators file final report, total losses for investors

April 9, 2020April 9, 2020 ~ Brev ~ Leave a comment

The saga of Privilege Wealth has all but come to an end, as the administrators of the collapsed minibond scheme have filed their final report, before handing the last of the clean-up to the Official Receiver.

Readers and investors will probably be unsurprised that the outcome was 100% losses for investors, despite Privilege Wealth's claims that its bonds were "low-risk" and "insured".