Blackmore Global under investigation by Isle of Man regulators

May 7, 2021May 6, 2021 ~ Brev ~ 5 Comments

Blackmore Global, the sister investment scheme to the UK minibond that collapsed with £46 million of potential losses, is being investigated for potentially running an illegal collective investment scheme.

Blackmore Global was established a few years before Blackmore Bonds. It is, on the surface, an unregulated investment scheme consisting of a closed-ended company registered in the Isle of Man.

The BBC revealed in 2018 that a number of UK pension investors had been missold in transferring their pension funds into Blackmore Global, an inherently high risk unregulated investment. The linked article has been suppressed by Google - along with its BBC source - due to legal action by Blackmore.

Fortress Legal / FLF Litigation goes dark, Companies House moves to strike off

April 15, 2021April 15, 2021 ~ Brev ~ 1 Comment

FLF Litigation Services (formerly known as Fortress Legal, Litigate Aid and Robert Dodds Watches), whose bonds were reviewed here in August 2019, has been issued with a strike-off notice by Companies House for failing to file accounts for December 2019 on time.

Unless the strike-off notice is cancelled, e.g. due to an objection from a creditor, in June FLF Litigation Services Limited will be dissolved and all its assets will pass to the Government.

Worryingly for investors, FLF Litigation Services' failure to file accounts (a criminal offence) appears to be part of a general pulling down of the shutters.

High Street Group’s former auditors finally allowed to reveal reasons for resignation

April 8, 2021April 9, 2021 ~ Brev ~ 4 Comments

In a filing with Companies House, High Street Group's former auditors, Big Four accounting juggernaut PWC, have finally revealed why they resigned from their post.

PWC's declaration is damning: it states that it resigned because it couldn't trust the figures HSG was giving it, making an auditor's job impossible.

Moreover, HSG's management consistently blanked PWC's attempts to obtain reliable information.

Smith & Williamson dumps Buy2LetCars founder from Entrepreneurs’ Hall of Fame

February 26, 2021February 26, 2021 ~ Brev ~ Leave a comment

Following last week's FCA shutdown of new investment into Buy2LetCars, Smith & Williamson has unceremoniously dumped CEO and owner Reginald Larry-Cole from an "Entrepreneur's Hall Of Fame".

Google's cache shows that on Friday 19th, the day of the FCA's intervention, the hall of fame entry was still up. But at some point after this it was quietly removed.

Breaking: Buy2letcars closed to new investment by FCA, assets frozen

February 21, 2021February 22, 2021 ~ Brev ~ 25 Comments

After over 8 years in operation, the Buy2letcars investment scheme has been closed to new investment by the FCA.

A "first supervisory notice" placed on Buy2letcars' parent company, Raedex Consortium, prohibits the company from carrying out any regulated activities other than collecting payments on vehicle leases that were already in place.

Buy2letcars solicits investment via social media and radio ads from the public, whose money is used to purchase a car to be leased out to a borrower. As the investment is unregulated, the FCA does not technically have the power to stop Buy2letcars taking in investment. However, FCA does have the power to stop Buy2letcars arranging new vehicle leases, and if Buy2letcars can't arrange new vehicle leases, it can't take in new investment as it can't do anything with it.

Bentley Global finally files 2019 accounts

February 18, 2021February 18, 2021 ~ Brev ~ 19 Comments

Bentley Global has filed accounts for August 2019, 5 months overdue (even after allowing for the Covid 3 month extension). In doing so it has earned a reprieve from a strike-off action issued by Companies House in November and suspended the following month.

Bentley Global's August 2018 accounts showed that it had raised £4.8 million in its bonds paying 12 - 20% per year. That figure swelled to £8.6 million by August 2019.

Pardus uses accounting date trick to delay filing accounts

February 4, 2021January 27, 2021 ~ Brev ~ 3 Comments

Pardus Fixed Income Bond Company plc has delayed filing its first set of accounts for a second time in succession.

Pardus' last accounts were filed as a dormant company. As a PLC, its first accounts as an active company should have been filed nine months after the accounting date of January 2020, under the time limits specified in the Companies Act. That nine months already includes a three month extension granted by the Government due to Covid.

Instead, Pardus used a trick whereby it reduced its accounting period by a single day, which under the letter of the law grants it an extra three months to file its accounts. It has now repeated the trick, giving it another three months until the end of April 2021 (15 months after the last accounting period ended).

FCA gives green light to Concept Capital’s unregulated investment scheme?

January 21, 2021January 20, 2021 ~ Brev ~ 1 Comment

Last month I reviewed Concept Capital's unregulated investment scheme which promises investors 10% per year "guaranteed" for investing in static homes.

Last week Concept Capital got in touch and took issue with various parts of the review. The only part on which they provided any significant new information was the section where I'd discussed the risk that Concept Capital could be viewed by the FCA as an unauthorised investment scheme.

High Street Group finally files holding company accounts, bondholders jettisoned from group

January 19, 2021January 25, 2021 ~ Brev ~ 27 Comments

High Street Group has finally filed the December 2018 accounts for its holding company, High Street Grp Limited [sic].

Having achieved the rare feat of being overdue with not one but two sets of accounts for the same company, High Street Group remains overdue with the High Street Grp accounts for 2019, and 2018 and 2019 accounts for High Street Commercial Finance Limited.

Fluid Trust plc given reprieve from strike off

January 14, 2021January 13, 2021 ~ Brev ~ Leave a comment

The strike-off notice filed against Fluid Trust plc last month, after it failed to file annual accounts on time, has been suspended.

The most likely reason for the notice being suspended is an objection from a creditor or HMRC.

Fluid Trust plc remains overdue with its November 2019 accounts (a criminal offence) and Companies House may resume the striking off process if this continues.