duck
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Post by duck on May 26, 2024 14:28:10 GMT
So how did Mr Alder react? He didn't, the letter was weeded out before it got to him (both email and hard copy). (my bolding)
So the letter was lobbed into the bin containing all the rest of the complaints, something that was complained about in the letter.
Further correspondence continued with the FCA's last word being
I have mentioned several times previously the Comms & PR team that have been put in charge of the FOI dept. Lee works for 'Comms & PR' and on LinkedIn lists one of his key skills as being "executive reputation management"
'Plausable deniability' seems to be the phrase that comes into my mind ......
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iRobot
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Post by iRobot on May 26, 2024 20:40:36 GMT
So how did Mr Alder react? He didn't, the letter was weeded out before it got to him (both email and hard copy). <snip> Pro'ly already thought of this but I think I'd be making enquiries around who is the most senior person that a) does have day-to-day operational responsibilities within the FCA, b) has the ear of both the FCA's Chair and Board, and c) can be directly addressed and copied into communications with the Complaints Commissioner. Yep, that and ' arse-covering twots' ... grrrrr....
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duck
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Post by duck on May 27, 2024 8:37:15 GMT
Pro'ly already thought of this but I think I'd be making enquiries around who is the most senior person that a) does have day-to-day operational responsibilities within the FCA, b) has the ear of both the FCA's Chair and Board, and c) can be directly addressed and copied into communications with the Complaints Commissioner. Yep, that and ' arse-covering twots' ... grrrrr.... That would be Nikhil Rathi the CEO ........... who of course is named in the letter for his 'sophisticated hack' detour when in front of the TC. He has of course implimented the move of the FOI department to sit within the Comms and PR department who will of course be heavily involved in the answering of our complaints. I do of course wonder who down the food chain is actually doing anything since apart from the confiscation hearing and the monthly updates everything else is at a halt. Having seen a lot of correspondence from when Col applied for 4A approval I can only assume that any action being taken inside the FCA involves trying to move Col off their desks. But of course I take heart from Mr Rathis declaration in the FCA's 3 year strategy document [/b]
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iRobot
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Post by iRobot on May 27, 2024 10:24:11 GMT
That would be Nikhil Rathi the CEO ........... Nikhil would certainly fit the bill. The Exec may also be a little too detached from the day-to-day action, so some other names (as at Jan 2024), just in case you've not already come across them in your travels / travails ... Sheree Howard, Chair and Executive Director of Risk & Compliance Oversight Sadaf Hussain & Ali Shepherd (acting), Directors of Independent Reviews, Complaints and Assurance Alison Russell, Head of Department for Complaints Resolution.
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duck
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Post by duck on May 27, 2024 14:24:17 GMT
Well that's nearly it for me for 3 weeks, our motorcycles await us.
I will of course be keeping an eye on the forum and my emails whilst I am away particularly on this coming Friday when the FCA is due to disclose the Bailey/Davidson emails. What will be disclosed remains at this time only known to the FCA.
Whilst I am away I will not be able to give any detailed answers since I will not be taking my library of documents with me and one fat finger and a mobile is hardly the best way to communicate.
That said don't be discouraged from asking questions / leaving PMs, they will all be dealt with asap.
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iRobot
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Post by iRobot on May 27, 2024 20:50:37 GMT
Well that's nearly it for me for 3 weeks, our motorcycles await us. Safe travels, duck and remember: ' A cold hamburger can be reheated quite nicely by strapping it to an exhaust pipe and riding forty miles.' (No, me neither... )
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susko
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Post by susko on May 31, 2024 7:20:56 GMT
my MP was doing rounds back and forth from original call for action years back; and after a follow up this year, did get a reply from Dominic Cashman. Director, Authorisations.
make of it what you wish, not much of an answer to questions raised. But, still a correspondence.
" Information we can share There are strict restrictions on the confidential information that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) can share publicly under UK law. This generally includes information we receive from firms, which is protected under section 348 of the Financial Services and Markets Act. If we think that a firm has breached our rules, we must follow formal procedures before we make a public statement to that effect. Further information about this is available on our website. I have set out the details regarding Collateral and some of the work we have undertaken below.
Background On 1 April 2014, responsibility for regulation of consumer credit and related activities was transferred from the Office of Fair Trading (“OFT”) to the FCA. A person (e.g. a firm) who held a Consumer Credit Licence immediately before 1 April 2014, and notified the FCA of certain required information, paying any relevant fee before 1 April 2014, was granted interim permission. This interim permission allowed a firm to carry on the credit-related regulated activity or activities that corresponded to the business that the firm’s Consumer Credit Licence covered, subject to special provision in the case of certain activities. Firms carrying on consumer credit activities under interim permission who wished to continue trading were required to apply to the FCA for full authorisation. The transfer to consumer credit regulation was an unprecedent expansion of the FCA’s remit. It significantly increased the volume of firms under the FCA’s supervision from approximately 27,000 to over 50,000. To manage the volume of transfers, firms were given a ‘landing slot’ to apply for full authorisation between 1 October 2014 and 31 March 2016.
The records of firms holding interim permission were held on the Interim Permission Consumer Credit Register (“Interim Permission Register”). This register was separate from the FCA’s Financial Services Register (the “FS Register”), which is a public record of firms, individuals and other bodies that are, or have been, authorised and regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority and/or the FCA. Consumers can search the FS Register for firms and individuals to identify the regulated activities that firms, and individuals, are permitted to carry out. On 1 April 2014, Regal Pawnbrokers Ltd was granted interim permission under the reference 656714. On 12 November 2015, the Interim Permission Register was amended by one of the Collateral Directors, Peter Currie, so that the name of the firm holding Interim Permission reference number 656714 read Collateral (UK) Ltd. The change of company name on the Interim Permission Register was not a legitimate means to transfer the Interim Permission from Regal Pawnbrokers Ltd to Collateral. Collateral then held itself out to consumers as a peer-to-peer lender (or ‘P2P’ a form of loan-based crowdfunding), but it never held, and, and could never have held an OFT licence as it was incorporated after 1 April 2014, which was when Regal Pawnbrokers Ltd was granted interim permission and also the date that peer-to-peer lending became a regulated activity. Over the following 18 months, the company was advertised as authorised to persuade people to invest in loans on the Collateral P2P platform. On 23 March 2016, an application for authorisation was made by Collateral. The company claimed that it held Interim Permission reference number 656714, the number given to Regal Pawnbrokers Ltd. No Interim Permission reference was ever given by the FCA to an entity called Collateral. During a review of Collateral’s application in November 2017, a case officer identified that Collateral was not the holder of a valid interim permission. At this point, the FCA did not immediately require Collateral to cease business because of a dispute over whether its business constituted regulated activity and because of the risk that an immediate cessation of business could cause a disorderly collapse when it might have been possible to avoid such an outcome. However, by January 2018, it was apparent that there was unlikely to be an agreed resolution. On 29 January 2018, the FCA requested Collateral to cease conducting regulated activities, to cease advertising itself as being authorised by the FCA, to make the correct position known to its customers and to provide a full customer list to the FCA. On the same day, the Interim Permission Register was changed to display the correct details. Following further communication between the FCA and Collateral on 12 February 2018, Collateral undertook to cease lending activity. Without informing the FCA, the firm took down its website on 26 February 2018 and purported to appoint an administrator on 28 February 2018. The matter was passed to the FCA Enforcement Division, and an investigation was formally opened in March 2018. In January 2022, Peter Currie and Andrew Currie, Directors of Collateral, were charged with two counts of fraud and one count of money laundering. In May 2023, a trial took place at Southwark Crown Court where Peter Currie was convicted of two counts of fraud (one by false representation as to the Register, one by abuse of position) and one count of money laundering. Andrew Currie was convicted of one count of fraud by abuse of position and one of money laundering. In July 2023 they were given custodial sentences of 5.5 and 2.5 years.
Does the FCA accept failings in this matter, and if so, what is being done to rectify these failures? As you may be aware, the FCA has received a number of complaints concerning its actions in relation to Collateral. The investigation of these complaints is ongoing, and the question posed falls within the scope of this investigation. The investigation is in its final stages, and we continue to update complainants in accordance with the Complaints Scheme. The Interim Permission Register was a transitional arrangement that existed to facilitate the migration of consumer credit regulation from the OFT to the FCA. From September 2015, the FCA included authorised consumer credit firms on the FS Register and the Interim Permission Register was decommissioned in July 2020, when the FCA launched a redesigned, enhanced FS Register. The FCA invested heavily in the FS Register to strengthen controls and make it easier to navigate and understand, with more information available to consumers.
What will be done to support individuals that have been impacted by this matter? As stated above, the Directors of Collateral placed the company into administration in February 2018 without informing the FCA. On 16 March 2018, the FCA applied to the High Court to appoint alternative administrators. This application was resisted by both the firm and the purported administrator, and the Court ordered the application to be adjourned until 27 April 2018. Pending the substantive hearing, and at the FCA’s request, the Court made various orders, including that Collateral’s assets (which would include both its documents and monies held on behalf of customers) should be retained and that no further substantive steps in the administration should be taken. Contact was made with Collateral’s bank to ensure no payments were made. On 6 April 2018, the FCA obtained without notice freezing injunctions against the former Directors of Collateral. These remain in place. On 27 April 2018, having considered evidence from both the firm and the FCA, a High Court judge ordered that the FCA’s proposed administrators, BDO LLP, should be appointed joint administrators of Collateral and two associated companies. We are aware that the data provided to the administrators created serious difficulties in reconciling Collateral’s records and the positions held by its lenders in the various loans, meaning that the recovery and distribution of client monies has proved challenging. We have continued to liaise with the administrators throughout the course of their work. On 10 May 2019, Collateral was put into creditors’ voluntary liquidation. The joint liquidators are responsible for collecting and distributing the estate of Collateral, including outstanding loans and have been working to realise assets and recover these loans. The liquidators produce regular reports for investors and creditors of Collateral, the most recent of which was issued in May 2023 and a further update is due this year. The FCA have opened a confiscation investigation into Peter Currie and Andrew Currie to seek to recover their financial benefit from the fraudulent activity. The confiscation investigation is ongoing. I hope that this information is helpful.
"
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metoo
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Post by metoo on May 31, 2024 10:27:05 GMT
Thanks for chasing up, and posting the letter susko , it's helpful. There are of course large omissions from the FCA account covering lengthy periods, and careful wording to obfuscate and hide numerous serious regulatory failures. As an example, "At this point, the FCA did not immediately require Collateral to cease business because of a dispute over whether its business constituted regulated activity and because of the risk that an immediate cessation of business could cause a disorderly collapse when it might have been possible to avoid such an outcome."This first appeared in FCA letters by 2019. It avoids the fact that it was illegal for the FCA to knowingly leave the false Register entry in place, showing an Interim Permission that the FCA knew, by November 2017, had ceased by law. Another example, the distinction "This register was separate from the FCA’s Financial Services Register (the “FS Register”)" is misleading. Searching the FS Register for "Collateral (UK) Limited" opened the IP656714 register entry. Investors used the FS Register. From the public point of view, the IP Register was not really separate from the public FS Register. FSMA Part XXIII requires that the FCA "must maintain a record of every person who appears to the Authority to be an authorised person." "Person" includes firms. An interim permission is deemed, by regulation 56(9)(b) of the FSMA (Regulated Activities) Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2013 (SI 2013/1881), to be a Part 4A Authorisation and a holder of an interim permission is therefore deemed to be an authorised person.
So the statutory duty on the FCA to maintain the public record included the IP Register. It seems likely this letter shows how the FCA intends to respond to complaints. However the Complaints Commissioner will have further information.
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duck
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Post by duck on May 31, 2024 15:33:38 GMT
Just a quick post to say that the FCA didn’t disclose the Bailey /Davidson emails today blaming the volume of work. Aspired to date is now 14/6.
This has of course been going on since the start of August last year ……
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duck
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Post by duck on Jun 15, 2024 15:47:13 GMT
Just a quick post to say that the FCA didn’t disclose the Bailey /Davidson emails today blaming the volume of work. Aspired to date is now 14/6. This has of course been going on since the start of August last year …… Well the FCA did disclose yesterday, email sent at 8pm. Lots of blank pages (the FCA say nothing relevant to Col) lots of redactions either for legal proceedings or exclusions s40 ‘personal data’ and s36 prejudice to the conduct of public affairs. So I have press articles, some MP’s letters inc FCA response and lots of recordings of the number of complaints. This forum is mentioned along with the MPs campaign. Probably more in the disclosure but that will have to wait until I can open the doc in a big screen. The big questions remain unanswered ……
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duck
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Post by duck on Jun 15, 2024 15:49:50 GMT
Oh yes the FCA disclosed all the Lord Myners documentation but of course that is already in the public domain.
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travolta
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Post by travolta on Jun 15, 2024 16:15:56 GMT
Office of Circumlocutions
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duck
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Post by duck on Jun 16, 2024 14:15:50 GMT
A few stats from the FOI disclosure.
The FCA said the search terms produced 3584 separate hits on separate pages/documents. I was sent 227 pages.
Of these 227 pages 89 were redacted so there was nothing relevant showing. 15 pages were simply totals of Col complaints received. 33 pages were the Lord Myners questions. 13 pages of replies to MPs using the std wording. 29 pages of briefing notes (the std words again) for TC and press. 20 pages that were not showing anything relevant.
I make that 194 of the 227 pages. The only thing disclosed that was not in the public domain before was lots of ‘you OK with this wording’ type emails by various FCA PR, lawyers etc.
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registerme
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Post by registerme on Jun 17, 2024 20:29:32 GMT
A few stats from the FOI disclosure. The FCA said the search terms produced 3584 separate hits on separate pages/documents. I was sent 227 pages. Of these 227 pages 89 were redacted so there was nothing relevant showing. 15 pages were simply totals of Col complaints received. 33 pages were the Lord Myners questions. 13 pages of replies to MPs using the std wording. 29 pages of briefing notes (the std words again) for TC and press. 20 pages that were not showing anything relevant. I make that 194 of the 227 pages. The only thing disclosed that was not in the public domain before was lots of ‘you OK with this wording’ type emails by various FCA PR, lawyers etc. lol Is that an appropriate response?
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registerme
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Post by registerme on Jun 17, 2024 20:30:35 GMT
Also, "Hey, FCA, if you're reading this (which you probably are), up your game, or you're going to get ****** like the Post Office".
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