FCA rejects Blackmore Bonds investor complaints
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has rejected complaints from investors in collapsed mini-bond provider Blackmore Bonds, saying that it “handled intelligence received about the firm appropriately”.
Blackmore Bonds was set up in 2016 and raised money to fund residential property development by issuing minibonds to investors, promising interest rates of up to 10 per cent.
It stopped making payments to bondholders in late 2019 and by April 2020 it had gone into administration resulting in significant losses for investors.
A probe into two regulated firms – NCM Fund Services and Northern Provident Investments – that approved the financial promotions for the mini-bonds, concluded that the promotions were “largely accurate and contained very relevant risk warnings to consumers”, so the FCA did not take enforcement action against either firm.
Read more: Three law firms unite to compensate Blackmore Bonds investors
Investors have accused the FCA of failing to act following warnings about the firm, failing to protect investors and of allowing misleading marketing.
They have asked the FCA to pay compensation and start a criminal investigation into Blackmore Bonds.
Read more: Blackmore Bond administration costs near £3m
“The FCA has carefully considered the complaints and decided not to uphold them,” it said. “The FCA never had any supervisory oversight of Blackmore, handled intelligence received about the firm appropriately and found previously that the financial promotions were largely accurate and contained relevant risk warnings.”
The FCA said it will make a payment of between £150 and £250 to each complainant in recognition of how long it took to respond to the complaints.
