Sapia Partners loses IFISA permissions
Sapia Partners has had its Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA) permissions removed by HMRC.
The business management consultancy firm is still authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) but the removal of its IFISA permissions suggests that it will no longer act as a principal for peer-to-peer lending platforms.
In 2016, P2P property lender CapitalRise was an appointed representative of Sapia Partners. However, this relationship is believed to have ended at some point in 2020.
Read more: What will P2P look like in 2023?
According to the FCA register, in October 2022 the firm was told it “must not conduct any designated investment business with retail clients other (or except) than corporate finance business.”
Despite holding IFISA permissions, Sapia Partners never launched an IFISA of its own.
It continues to work with 48 appointed representatives, including several fintech companies, as a principal and business consultant.
The removal of Sapia’s IFISA license follows a recent crackdown on removing unused ISA permissions.
Last year, HMRC removed former ShareIn appointed representative Godwin Finance from the ISA manager register. Landbay had its IFISA permissions removed two years after leaving the P2P market. And Hartley Pensions lost its IFISA license amid an FCA investigation into misconduct at the firm.
Read more: FCA cancelled 201 authorisations in 2022