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Post by Proptechfish on Mar 9, 2019 8:38:56 GMT
Thousands of people who invested in a high-risk bond scheme marketed as a "Fixed Rate ISA" fear they have lost everything after the company collapsed.www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-47454328Many similarities to some stories here. high rates, “asset backed security”, “bonds”, three rates, looks like a building society ISA, FCA authorisation misused, FCA clueless, no one has lost a penny, etc. Call me suspicious, but i'm not sure I would trust anybody with 'Careless' for a surname 
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ceejay
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Post by ceejay on Mar 9, 2019 8:45:24 GMT
Thousands of people who invested in a high-risk bond scheme marketed as a "Fixed Rate ISA" fear they have lost everything after the company collapsed.www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-47454328Many similarities to some stories here. high rates, “asset backed security”, “bonds”, three rates, looks like a building society ISA, FCA authorisation misused, FCA clueless, no one has lost a penny, etc. Interesting to read that the FCA were apparently warned in 2015 by an advisor who had looked into this bunch and saw a lot of what is now on display. It would be easy to take the FCA as a target (as they often are on these boards!) but the underlying problem is the lack of political will to give them the resources and teeth that they need, driven by vested interests with undue influence in high places...
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jester
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Post by jester on Mar 9, 2019 8:48:47 GMT
paul123 based on your response to my poll are you withdrawing from P2P arena altogether due to these issues? I admit I'm quite heavily committed but it's money I'd survive without if the worst happened. It's heavily diversified by lender, loan types and established/newer platforms. I of course feel huge empathy with these "lost everything" stories but who are these people pumping their entire inheritance/pension/savings into a single company they've never heard of before until the marketing hooks them. Utter madness!! As you suggest, caution is required in these waters.
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m2btj
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Post by m2btj on Mar 9, 2019 8:50:08 GMT
As long ago as 2015 IFA Neil Liversidge wrote to the FCA warning about the scheme. He made the FCA aware of the interconnection between the directors of LCF & the companies they were lending to. Once again the FCA fail to act to the detriment of hard working & honest investors.
Wake up & smell the coffee FCA, you are not fit for purpose!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2019 9:23:37 GMT
It would be easy to take the FCA as a target (as they often are on these boards!) but the underlying problem is the lack of political will to give them the resources and teeth that they need, driven by vested interests with undue influence in high places... No, the underlying problem is that the FCA attracts second-rate box-tickers who use it as a revolving door to move into finance jobs they failed to get first time round.
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ceejay
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Post by ceejay on Mar 9, 2019 10:32:16 GMT
It would be easy to take the FCA as a target (as they often are on these boards!) but the underlying problem is the lack of political will to give them the resources and teeth that they need, driven by vested interests with undue influence in high places... No, the underlying problem is that the FCA attracts second-rate box-tickers who use it as a revolving door to move into finance jobs they failed to get first time round. Leaving to one side for a moment the unnecessary gratuitous insult, why do you think it is the case that the FCA doesn't attract the sort of people you'd like to see? Because it's underfunded and under-resourced, for the reasons I mentioned. As long as regulators are seen as no more than a thorn in the side of "hard working people who just want to get on with their jobs without being interfered with", how on earth do you think they are ever going to be effective? To put it another way, if you wanted to change things, how would you go about it? Would you start by firing all the people in the FCA, or would you start by changing their profile/funding/resources?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 9, 2019 10:35:38 GMT
Would you start by firing all the people in the FCA, or would you start by changing their profile/funding/resources? I'll give you a hint. Those two things are not mutually exclusive. I certainly wouldn't give the current bunch of box-tickers a raise. That would be rewarding failure.
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benaj
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Post by benaj on Mar 9, 2019 11:00:45 GMT
Thousands of people who invested in a high-risk bond scheme marketed as a "Fixed Rate ISA" fear they have lost everything after the company collapsed.www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-47454328Many similarities to some stories here. high rates, “asset backed security”, “bonds”, three rates, looks like a building society ISA, FCA authorisation misused, FCA clueless, no one has lost a penny, etc. Call me suspicious, but i'm not sure I would trust anybody with 'Careless' for a surname Well, there are a few people with funny surname. Like Badman, Crook. Quite a few Badmans can be found on company house, and certainly a Crook like this one ran a listed company www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-22/provident-financial-ceo-steps-down-on-loss-dividend-scrapped
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invester
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Post by invester on Mar 9, 2019 11:14:42 GMT
Feel for anyone caught up in this.
Were these guys ever mentioned on here? I have never heard of them before.
Paying a 25% commission of gross investment (!!) seems like an absolute scam.... if this is what the advisor was pointing out it seems scandalous that nothing was done.
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macq
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Post by macq on Mar 9, 2019 11:43:20 GMT
Feel for anyone caught up in this. Were these guys ever mentioned on here? I have never heard of them before. Paying a 25% commission of gross investment (!!) seems like an absolute scam.... if this is what the advisor was pointing out it seems scandalous that nothing was done. May not have been mentioned on here but there is at least One big thread on the MSE forums(under savings & investments) going back 4 or 5 years of about 60 odd pages with regular postings plus other mentions/threads if searching the site (also under LC&F)
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corto
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Post by corto on Mar 9, 2019 12:04:58 GMT
When you searched for high interest ISA (cash) accounts about a year ago, they quite regularly turned up on top of the lists; 6%+ better than what you were able to get on a real cash ISA account. There were plenty warnings around, but good comments, too.
There were plenty of warnings and good comments about p2p, too.
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agent69
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Post by agent69 on Mar 9, 2019 21:03:33 GMT
Were these guys ever mentioned on here? I have never heard of them before. There's a thread containing about 1350 posts on the MSE site, starting in 2015. The first post says are these people legit, and the next 1349 replies all contain the word bargepole.
You feel sorry for anyone that was conned, but if they are offering an 8% ISA when others are 2% you would have thought the alarm bells would have been ringing.
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benaj
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Post by benaj on Mar 10, 2019 8:13:06 GMT
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mjc
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Post by mjc on Mar 10, 2019 8:36:27 GMT
Were these guys ever mentioned on here? I have never heard of them before. There's a thread containing about 1350 posts on the MSE site, starting in 2015. The first post says are these people legit, and the next 1349 replies all contain the word bargepole.
You feel sorry for anyone that was conned, but if they are offering an 8% ISA when others are 2% you would have thought the alarm bells would have been ringing.
No, the average guy on the Clapham omnibus would not think that unreasonable, how many of us here invest in loans with 8% or greater returns? And we have more experience than the average punter on risks, losses and defaults. After the warning the FCA received in 2015 if they thought alarm bells should be ringing they should have issued a warning in 4 hours, not 4 years. They are not fit for purpose. This was posted by someone with 17 genuine reviews on TP only in Jan 19:- “ Bureaucracy Gone Mad
What on earth is going on? 14,000 investors now in La La land due to the FCA who refuse to provide any information so they are just as guilty as other reviewer states LC&F are of failing to communicate (not a fact that I can support). Have investors complained of not receiving interest payments? I need clarification on any product that I purchase and do my research. I believe that London & Capital Finance were absolutely crystal clear in their marketing and verbal responses to questions. Investors knew investment not protected by FCA but the company has been trading for many years yet only now do the FCA step in to create chaos, anxiety and uncertainty. This is not like Wonga, we the investors have taken nothing but are just trying to make a bit more profit on our savings when banks and building societies continue to offer offensive interest rates yet amass huge profits and salaries for their senior executives. LC&F pay the interest on investment to us all so come on FCA use your resources and energy where it is needed and don’t make the small investor like me suffer along with 14,000 others.”
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agent69
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Post by agent69 on Mar 10, 2019 16:59:44 GMT
There's a thread containing about 1350 posts on the MSE site, starting in 2015. The first post says are these people legit, and the next 1349 replies all contain the word bargepole.
You feel sorry for anyone that was conned, but if they are offering an 8% ISA when others are 2% you would have thought the alarm bells would have been ringing.
No, the average guy on the Clapham omnibus would not think that unreasonable,
The average man (on the Clapham Omnibus or elsewhere) shouldn't be going near P2P, let alone the sort of investment that LC&F were offering.
Those that have surplus cash that they can risk, and who decide to have a punt on P2P will probably tell you that diversification is key if you don't have the where-with-all to carry out sufficient DD on specified loans. This wasn't possible with LC&F, it was all eggs in one basket (and a pretty poor class basket at that). Anyone that invested without taking any notice of the disclaimer on their web site (that capital and interest was at risk) only deserve limited sympathy. As with any form of investment you need to follow a few simple rules (these courtesey of Masonic on MSE):
- If you don't understand the investment, don't invest.
- If it looks too good to be true it probably is.
- Don't get ideas for financial products from social media or search engines.
- Stick to comparison sites you know to be trustworthy.
- Learn what you can reasonably expect from different types of savings and investments.
- Use resources like this forum as a sounding board if you really want to move into unfamiliar territory.
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