Eight investment companies including their related entities and appointed representatives were forced to wind up on 18 October 2022, the Financial Conduct Authority announced.
The Official Receiver has been appointed as the liquidator for all eight businesses.
The move follows regulatory action taken by the FCA against the firms, including issuing consumer warnings and either placing restrictions on or removing their permissions altogether between 2021 and 2022.
The vast majority of the businesses faced regulatory action for carrying out investment activities without having the relevant authorisations to do so. These included investing customer funds into bonds or loan notes, the FCA said.
The companies in question are:
- Cavendish Incorporated;
- Cottesmore Associate (linked to Cavendish);
- Marvell Enterprises;
- Grosvenor Associates;
- Renaissance Advisory (linked to Marvell);
- Falcon Financial Solutions (linked to Cavendish); and
- Semantic Business Services.
The FCA added: “The eight firms appear to have connections to each other. None of the firms have ever been permitted to provide regulated investment services and we are aware that consumers may have invested substantial sums with at least two of the firms (Cavendish and Marvell).
“The firms failed to respond to communications from us and we believe they posed a significant risk to consumers. We took action to prevent these firms from causing further harm to consumers and so that, if the firms hold any assets, they can be recovered for the benefit of anyone owed money by the firms.”
Consumers may face issues when turning to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), as it can only protect them if the firms were authorised by the FCA and they received regulated services, such as financial advice, the watchdog warned.
