Tag: Pension Life

  • CWM Criminal Case and Business Plan

    CWM Criminal Case and Business Plan

    As we reach the halfway point in the criminal trial of the Continental Wealth Management and Premier Pension Solutions companies, I regret I am unable to give a detailed update on the case at this point. The first half of the eight defendants have been cross examined by the judge’s lawyer, and the second batch of four further defendants are due to be cross examined on 7th April 2020 (in the Denia Court of First Instruction).

    This, of course, assumes there is no disruption to the proceedings caused by the Corona virus lockdown.

    Dean Stogsdill and Neil Hathaway of CWM leaving the Denia Criminal Court on 25th February 2020 after being cross examined on charges of fraud, disloyal administration and falsification of commercial documents.
    Dean Stogsdill and Neil Hathaway of CWM leaving the Denia Criminal Court on 25th February 2020 after being cross examined on charges of fraud, disloyal administration and falsification of commercial documents.

    The first “batch” consisted of Patrick Kirby – Darren Kirby’s brother – who ran the CWM cold calling operation which sent so many hundreds of victims to their doom; Anthony Downs; Dean Stogsdill and Neil Hathaway who had various different titles at different times – ranging from Managing Director to Operations Director to Investment Director.

    I can’t comment on the transcripts of the questions and answers on 24th and 25th February, and won’t be able to publish the full details of all cross examinations until all the defendants have appeared before the judge. The defendants on 7th April will be:

    • Jody Smart – sole director and shareholder who paid herself over 1 million Euros in the last two years of the life of CWM – the money being paid into her two other businesses: property company Mercurio and fashion design company Jody Bell. In addition, she also paid money into her Grant A Wish “charity” and drew a hefty salary.
    • Paul Clarke – founder of the original CWM company in partnership with Darren Kirby; Clarke left a year later to run AES International Spain, where he scammed more victims out of their life savings with expensive, unnecessary, illegally-sold insurance bonds, and high-risk structured notes – all sold for the fat commissions (despite the even fatter losses suffered by the victims). He also advised two victims to go into Stephen Ward’s Ark scam. Clarke now runs a firm called Roebuck Wealth and has scrubbed the internet of all trace of his history.
    • Darren Kirby – founder along with Clarke and ultimate controller of the whole CWM operation throughout. Kirby made every attempt to divest himself of all legal responsibility for CWM. He gave away his shares in the company to his business/civil partner Jody Smart, and some of his employees. However, all the defendants (as well as victims) are bound to confirm Darren Kirby was the ultimate boss and controlling mind of the company.
    • Stephen Ward – owner of Premier Pension Solutions SL. He was the person who signed off all the CWM clients’ pension transfers (for a fat fee). He knowingly condemned all pension holders whose transfers he signed off to inevitable partial or total loss. He was fully aware of CWM’s modus operandi as he himself used a similar investment model to that of CWM (and had taught them how to do it). Ward was routinely investing his own clients’ funds in a toxic, disloyal and irresponsible manner which was as bad – and sometimes even worse – than in the CWM cases.

    As soon as I can publish the cross examination transcripts and further directions, I will do so.

    This landmark Continental Wealth Management criminal case will inevitably shine a much-needed spotlight on the issue of offshore financial services generally. CWM was just one example (albeit an extreme one) of an international financial services culture which generally disadvantages and/or defrauds consumers. The cause of this culture is a combination of the obsession with the insurance bond cartel: OMI, SEB, Generali, RL360 et al; the total reliance on (hidden) commission; the practice of churning (investing the same sum of money as often as possible to generate as much commission as possible) and the view that the client’s money and interests are secondary to the adviser’s.

    CWM victims outside the Denia Criminal Court on 25.2.2020 waiting for Dean Stogsdill and Neil Hathaway to finish being questioned on charges of fraud, disloyal administration and falsification of commercial documents.
    CWM victims outside the Denia Criminal Court on 25.2.2020 waiting for Dean Stogsdill and Neil Hathaway to finish being questioned on charges of fraud, disloyal administration and falsification of commercial documents.

    Most victims – whether parties to the criminal proceedings or not – are aware of the demise of CWM in September 2017. The company was slowly dying because of the number of victims the CWM scammers had ruined: the word was getting out (which was bad for business) so the victims who shouted loudest were getting paid off. This was having a seriously detrimental effect on CWM’s cashflow.

    The financial strain on the business was, however, made even worse by the fact that every last bit of spare cash in the CWM bank account was being used to keep Jody Smart in houses, frilly frocks, shoes and champagne. In 2017, the CWM bank statements show 158,614 EUR was transferred into her Mercurio property company bank account, and 123,400 EUR into her Jody Bell fashion design company bank account. But this was significantly down on the previous year: 386,921 EUR to Mercurio and 164,000 EUR to Jody Bell. The year before, 2015, 124,500 EUR into Mercurio and 39,000.00 into Jody Bell fashion. That’s almost 1 million EUR in two years pocketed by Jody – not counting the money paid into her Grant A Wish “charity” and her generous “salary”.

    During the same period, however, the revenue was at least 3,391,876.28 EUR in commissions from insurance bonds and structured notes. On top of this was a substantial amount of extra secret commission from the ultra-high-risk Leonteq structured notes, plus whatever Darren Kirby could con out of victims such as Mark Davison (who subsequently died penniless) and the other claimants pursuing Kirby and CWM through the criminal court in Denia in separate proceedings which pre-date our Pension Life proceedings.

    Looking back to the dying days of CWM when cashflow was slowly grinding to a halt as the company was paying out compensation to some of the worst-affected victims (and any remaining cash was being spent by Jody Smart on first-class flights to New York and champagne in five-star hotels – despite her claim to be working 24/7 on her Grant A Wish charity), there was a plan to “reinvent” and re-launch CWM. It eventually dawned on the CWM scammers that they couldn’t scam enough new victims quickly enough to pay out all the existing victims – so the answer was to start afresh with a brand new approach. The new approach was essentially the same as the old approach – except they aimed to sell more “products” and ruin more victims.

    The rest is history and CWM collapsed at the end of September 2017 – when all related parties withdrew terms of business. It is worth taking a careful look at the business plan which CWM had been intending to use to re-launch the business. This plan makes it clear that this was an unlicensed, insurance bond sales outfit which intended to continue to operate in contravention of the Spanish insurance regulations. If you read the plan carefully, you will see that CWM operating model was always based on a high-pressure sales target which ignored the interests of the clients (victims).

    CWM’s promotion had always been centered around the iniquitous cold call – but in addition the business plan reveals that Jody Smart’s Grant A Wish “charity” events had been used to “harvest” potential victims at scamming sales parties posing as bona fide fundraising efforts.

    Read the below CWM “Relaunch Business Plan” carefully and you will see how the scam works. If a victim transfers a £100,000 pension, it will fall in value in the hands of CWM to £91,976,000 by the end of year 1. This means the first year fees would have totalled £4,000 set up fee plus £1,000 annual management fee to CWM; £1,490 QROPS fee; £1,534 to fee OMI. It is interesting that Stogsdill has made the assumption in the plan that all clients will be put into an OMI bond – long before they’ve even met the client and found out if they actually need an insurance bond (which they never do as they are too expensive and lock investors in for up to ten years).

    The CWM “plan” shows how a victim’s fund could recover back up to £97,495 if it grows by 6%. But this doesn’t take into account the investment costs of between 5% and 8% – so that was never going to happen. So Dean Stogsdill of CWM – despite all the lessons which should have been learned from years of destroying victims’ funds, still fully intended to keep on doing the same to as many new victims as possible.

    Continental Wealth Management Business Plan 2017 (by Dean Stogsdill)

    Continental Wealth Management is an independent financial advice firm specialising in wealth management advice to English speaking expatriates throughout Europe – this statement is the key to CWM’s future success.

    CWM must focus on expanding our circle of influence and create new business through strategic placement of data gatherers. We must take on the business of “hard targets”, created to allow the best we have to flourish, whilst removing the weaker members of the team by natural selection. This is not a system for solely the sales force, but for all aspects of the team including call centre operators, administration and directors.

    CWM will have clear defined roles within the sales force with the addition of achievable, measurable targets on top of generous salaries which is the cornerstone of our payroll ethos. The business will flow from our Partners meaning the business can be closed efficiently and serviced by an experienced adviser who is well trained, knowledgeable and most importantly a “hungry individual”.

    There is a simple calculation on £100,000.00:

    £100,000 invested over 6 years in capital protected products will provide £6,250.00 in gross revenue.

    £100,000 invested over 6 years in a fund yielding 3% per annum growth will provide £10,690 in gross revenue.

    BACKGROUND

    CWM is a financial services company founded in 2007 on the Costa Blanca. It is a company specialising in pension transfers, portfolio bonds, offshore investments and single premium investments. It is a non-regulated company which is owned and operated by the directors / shareholders and founder Darren Kirby. Recent investors are Timothy Benjamin, and Mark Davison with share capital having been distributed amongst these investors.

    Directors / Shareholders

    Founder / Majority Shareholder – Darren Kirby

    Chairman – Neil Hathaway

    CEO – Dean Stogsdill

    COO – Anthony Downs

    Key Personnel

    Darren Kirby – He brings a wealth of experience in financial services with a keen head for figures and sales techniques. He has a strong view on the business and how it should be perceived by the clients, while strengthening our position through strategic investment decisions along with powerful leadership skills.

    Neil Hathaway – Decades of experience in insurance and wealth management, he brings a strong personality and great sales skills with the qualifications to match. He is a knowledgeable asset to the management of the sales force and uses his skills to bring through the less experienced members of the team.

    Dean Stogsdill – Strong sales record and up to date qualifications – he can sell at the most technical level and has a strong grasp of the investment market, regulation and products. Strong views on company direction.

    Anthony Downs – Organised, driven and a sales record to match. He drives through the issuing business and captures all revenues and commissions in the most efficient manner. Anthony is key to the efficient stream of payments required for this business model.

    Directors: Re-structure 2017

    Darren Kirby

    The final decision maker as majority shareholder means critical decisions will fall to him. A mandate to find new investors and revenue streams for CWM. An ambassadorial role and a creative thinker for the company, bringing fresh ideas on many aspects of the business both operational and non-operational.

    Neil Hathaway

    Key point of contact for the sales force. A remit to push the sales force to meet targets and close business. He will be in control of sales, possible bond lists as well as monitoring the business / LOA levels for each adviser. He will also have a key role in writing new business. This will be a target driven management position. All advisers will report directly to him.

    Dean Stogsdill

    Complete oversight of the business operationally with a close working relationship with the Chairman and COO. I will manage the company direction and overall development planning, strategies and high level management with department heads reporting directly to me. I will chair board meetings and deal with technical and regulatory planning. I will also be heavily involved in the efficient management of the investment book.

    Anthony Downs

    Full control of new business. A remit to drive through the revenues from written business to maximize the cashflow of the company. Target driven with targets based on company income needs, outstanding requirements and business written.

    With the current admin levels and management restructure we should be able to easily handle up to 7 bonds per week, plus client after care, outstanding requirements, investment and re-investment. We do not hire any more administration in 2017. Although this will be adjusted if business levels exceed 7 bonds per week.

    We are now a company where you perform, meet your target or you are replaced.

    Of the 9 bond writers, we have 1 in France, 1 in Turkey, 1 in Portugal and the other 6 are in Spain. I believe that we need to build up the business levels so that 9 bond writers can meet a target of 30 bonds per man for the year or an average of 3 a month, based on a 10 month / 40-week year. This would mean a company wide total of 270 bonds, at our target average of €10,000 commission per bond that would mean turnover of 2.7 million plus trail of €300,000 meaning a total of €3,000,000 for 2017.

    Call Centres – Cold calling with appointments made and revenue generated through call centres and call centres paid for on performance only.

    Market history:

    Historically we have concentrated on cold calling, Grant A Wish (“charity”) events, web videos, website and referrals from existing clients. The cold calling aspect is becoming more and more difficult and time consuming and other areas of marketing ourselves and our products must be found.

    Competition – Blevins Franks; DeVere; Abbey Financial; Spectrum; Blacktower

    Our average case size of £100,000 has costs associated with it as follows:

    Opening

    		Initial Single Premium 100,000

    		Total 100,000



    Charges CWM   

    		Initial CWM Set Up Charge 4,000 –

    		–

    		QROPS Set Up Charge and Annual Fee 1,490

    		OMI Annual Management Charge 1,150

    		CWM Annual Management Charge 1,000

    		OMI Annual Administration Charge (paid Quarterly) 384
    Total Expenses 8,024 3,354





    		Net 91,976

    		Estimated Growth 6% 5,519




    Year End Balance 97,495 99,789


       

    		– –

    		– –

    		– –

    		– –




    Balance on Fund 97,495 99,789

    This gives us a year 1 price point of 8.02% and an ongoing of 3.3%.

  • Chancellor must dump Andrew Bailey

    Chancellor must dump Andrew Bailey

    Chancellor Rishi Sunak must dump Andrew Bailey as governor of the BoE

    Dear Mr. Sunak

    I write to implore you on behalf of the British population in general; British victims of financial services scams in particular and the financial services industry in the UK, to dump Andrew Bailey as the next governor of the Bank of England.  Immediately.

    Secondly, I urge you to sort out the FCA, the Pensions Regulator, HMRC, FOS and POS, the Insolvency Service and the police authorities.  Limp, ineffective regulation and law enforcement have long been the facilitators of pension and investment scams in Britain.  This devastating and highly embarrassing failure on the part of the British government for so many years has got to be addressed – once and for all.

    The case of Andrew Bailey’s appointment as governor of the Bank of England is one which demonstrates beyond doubt that both failure and fraud are rewarded in equal measure in the UK.  Bailey has single-handedly proved that Britain’s government and authorities care not a jot about the reform of the toxic element of British financial services.  Bailey has turned his back on our country; our people; our reputation as a financial services centre which should be the best in the World.  Sadly, Britain has now become not just one of the worst in the World, but a laughing stock internationally.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBGVB2OWBYc

    Those who are laughing loudest are the scammers and fraudsters who have made fortunes – repeatedly for years – out of innocent, hard-working British people.  The criminals are still out there, scamming away merrily, while the FCA does nothing.  This sends out the message that while petty burglars who steal a few hundred pounds’ worth of goods may get prison sentences, those who steal millions are left free to continue to ply their evil trade and ruin hundreds – sometimes thousands – more innocent lives.  And all because neither the FCA nor any other British government agency or law enforcement service is willing or able to bring these filthy criminals to justice.

    Rishi Sunak - genius or nitwit as the new chancellor?

    Your predecessor, Sajid Javid, made one of the biggest bungles in British history by appointing Bailey as the next governor of the BoE and acclaiming him as an “outstanding candidate” in the wake of his years of negligence and outright laziness at the FCA.  It is clear that Boris Johnson manoeuvred Javid out of office by insisting he should sack all his political advisers.  The fact that not one of them came out publicly to condemn Javid’s appalling judgement, demonstrates their incompetence.  And they should never have any place in British government again.

    Bailey’s multiple failures have been showcased by many prominent financial services figures.  Well-respected True and Fair Foundation’s Gina Millar has publicly shamed the FCA and Bailey’s long-standing record of miserable failure.

    https://www.investmentweek.co.uk/news/4011346/gina-miller-calls-chancellor-review-andrew-bailey-appointment-boe

    Miller has quite rightly warned that Bailey’s appointment as governor of the BoE would be a gross betrayal of consumers’ interests.  She has eloquently described Bailey’s and the FCA’s catalogue of negligence, incompetence and indifference.  She has listed the many failures which have resulted in thousands of British citizens losing their life savings:

    • M&G Property Fund £2.5bn +
    • Woodford EI Fund £1bn +
    • London Capital and Finance £236m +
    • Dozens of fraudulent investment bonds
    • Dozens of fraudulent investment funds
    • Dozens of fraudulent banks
    • Thousands of victims who have lost a lifetime’s taxed savings and wasted a life of hard, diligent work.

    The finance ministry has apparently argued that Britain needs experienced, credible leadership.  And it is right.  But Bailey is not credible (except with the scammers) and his experience at the FCA is limited to weakening and discrediting financial regulation.

    Ask yourself why FCA staff have problems: they have mental health issues; they are demoralised and resentful of their masters; they defecate on the floor; they vandalise the kitchens. 

    On top of this, the FCA has been fined by the Pensions Regulator for not following regulations, and have wrongfully published complainants’ data on the FCA website.  This extensive list of embarrassing and shameful failures cannot be explained away with a wave of Bailey’s grubby hand.  The ethical sector of the financial services industry is paying for all this through FSCS levy hikes and vastly increased PII premiums.  And the buck stops with the chancellor, Mr. Sunak.

    Campaigner Mark Taber – a professional investor – has successfully shown the FCA that their job can, and should, be done relatively easily.  All it takes is the will and incentive to do the work.  In a matter of weeks, Taber has identified dozens of mini bond scams which are being openly promoted by Google.  And the FCA has done nothing.  Admittedly, the FCA might be somewhat rudderless while Bailey measures himself for a new suit and Mont Blanc for his new gig at the BoE, but they’ve shown zero interest in the fact that all it takes is for someone to actually care about financial services and for the public to be warned effectively. And further, for these fraudulent mini bonds to be banned and those responsible for promoting them (including Google) to be sanctioned.

    Mark Taber https://www.ft.com/content/83485d90-f832-11e2-92f0-00144feabdc0#axzz2bTtvusN4 is doing the FCA’s work for nothing.  Because he believes the public have a right to be protected. 

    Gina Miller https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gina_Miller#True_and_Fair_Foundation is trying to protect the public from the failures of the FCA and Andrew Bailey.

    Look on Twitter and see the cacophany of financial services professionals – some highly respected and high profile – who are embarrassed by and furious at the FCA’s multiple failures.  Ask the thousands of victims of financial scams in Britain and beyond.  And ask the loved ones of those who have died due to the FCA’s and Andrew Bailey’s multiple failings.  Then ask yourself: do you really think Bailey should be the governor of the Bank of England?

    This disgusting mess needs to be sorted out once and for all.  The British authorities and government have facilitated – and even encouraged – financial crime for more than a decade: openly and brazenly.  And you, Mr. Sunak, are now firmly in the hot seat.  I do hope you are wearing neoprene y-fronts – because you are going to need them.

    For several years, it has been claimed that there is an alliance called Project Bloom – of which the FCA and tPR are supposedly members.  But what has this so-called project achieved?  Pension and investment scams are flourishing more successfully than ever, and very few of the fraudsters are behind bars.  Still the victims of pension liberation scams are the ones facing penalties from HMRC while the scammers luxuriate in their country mansions and Florida holiday homes, sipping champagne and having a good laugh at the ineptitude of the British authorities.

    I will be writing to you openly and publicly over the next few weeks to encourage you to do the right thing.  If Bailey’s appointment as governor of the Bank of England goes ahead, it will thoroughly discredit Britain and the British government.  Your tenure as chancellor will be recorded in history as starting on a shameful note.  Boris Johnson will be remembered as the prime minister who disgraced Britain and destroyed the reputation of Britain’s financial services.

    Johnson is already on shaky ground as he promised to help and support some of his constituents who had fallen victim to the Ark pension scam (and has subsequently betrayed them by doing nothing to honour his promises).  The action you take next will determine whether you are another betrayer of the interests of consumers, or whether you have the balls to be proactive.

    Read Henry Tapper’s wonderful blogs:

    Ever wondered where those “pension leads” come from?

    Talk to some victims who’ve had the courage to take their case to a Spanish criminal court: https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-8044237/Victims-rogue-pensions-scandal-fight-courts.html

    Talk to Dalriada Trustees who are custodians of more than 30 scam pension schemes (but who don’t think it is their remit to report the perps to the police or initiate private criminal prosecutions).  Ask them how many of the schemes promoted and run by Stephen Ward and Peter Moat (since 2011) they now have under their control: https://www.fscs.org.uk/failed-firms/1-stop-fast-pensions/

    Go onto the Blackmore Bond and Global Fund Facebook Group and read the anguish of the betrayed lenders/investors: https://www.facebook.com/groups/498072800835888/

    But most important of all, go onto the Smith and Williamson website and read about what the FCA can do if it puts its mind to it: https://smithandwilliamson.com/en/services/restructuring-and-recovery-services/park-first/

    Having known about the high-profile Store First matter in 2014, the FCA is only now taking regulatory action against Park First more than five years later.  The funds of the 6,000 Park First investors have now been used to pay several £ millions in fees to Smith and Williamson and their lawyers Mishcon de Reya and Park First’s lawyers Paul Hastings.  And all because five years after the event, the FCA decided Park First was a collective scheme.  Five years after 6,000 people have invested in the scheme.

    But Park First exists.  The car parks exist.  And they are making money.  The FCA could have gone to the airports where the Park First car parks are operating.  Andrew Bailey could have driven his (undoubtedly luxurious) car into the Park First car parks and actually stood on the tarmac and watched the thousands of other car park users doing the same.

    Then Bailey could have asked what were the assets of Woodford, M&G Property, LC&F, Blackmore Bond and Blackmore Global Fund.  And he could have done the maths.  But, of course, he didn’t bother.

    Mr. Sunak – you can be a hero or a disgusting disgrace.  You choose.

    Regards, Angela Brooks – Pension Life

  • Meghan and Harry’s New Challenge: Pension Scams

    Meghan and Harry’s New Challenge: Pension Scams

    Meghan and Harry – the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – are having a tough time (and are running away from home). Their sadness and confusion is because they have no purpose or passion in life. So I am offering them an interesting and satisfying challenge: taking on and championing the cause of pension scam victims. Harry’s Mum knew a thing or too about adopting worthy causes and had no problem jumping on a plane to far away, war-torn places full of the most appalling human suffering and landmines. Meghan and Harry don’t even have to travel as far as the airport to find victims whose cause desperately needs championing.

    Megan and Harry - in search of a purpose in life - need to look at the human misery caused by pension and investment scammers: Stephen Ward of Premier Pension Solutions; Paul Clarke of Roebuck Wealth; Dennis Radford of Spectrum IFA Group; Darren Kirby of CWM; Gus Ferguson and David Vilka of Square Mile; James Hadley of Nationwide Benefit Consultants; Patrick McCreesh of Blackmore Group; Phill Pennick of Pennick Blackwell; Peter and Sara Moat of Fast Pensions; Paul Baxendale-Walker and Phillip Nunn of Blackmore Group

    Poor Duke and Duchess of Sussex – what an awful time they’re having: posh clothes; flash cars; sumptuous “cottage” in Windsor Park. They needn’t be bored and aimless any longer. They can become patrons of the plight of the thousands of British citizens who have lost £ billions to pension and investment scams.

    Just as the Late Princess Diana confronted the horrific dangers of land mines, Meghan and Harry can confront the huge tide of appalling human misery caused by scammers Stephen Ward of Premier Pension Solutions; Paul Clarke of Roebuck Wealth; Dennis Radford of Spectrum IFA Group; Darren Kirby of CWM; Gus Ferguson and David Vilka of Square Mile; XXXX XXXX of Nationwide Benefit Consultants; Phill Pennick of Pennick Blackwell; Peter and Sara Moat of Fast Pensions; Paul Baxendale-Walker; Patrick McCreesh and Phillip Nunn of Blackmore Group; Paul Careless of Surge Group.

    This is now becoming a very high-profile topic – especially in the light of the multiple, dismal failings of the FCA and a recent series of hard-hitting articles published by Tom Kelly of the Daily Mail. Kelly, an engaging and open-minded young man (who I am sure the Sussexes will like) has written about a wide array of pension and investment disasters which have befallen thousands of victims since 2010.  I would urge Meghan and Harry to contact him: Tom’s email address is:  Tom.Kelly@dailymail.co.uk and his editor’s address is: Geordie.greg@dailymail.co.uk

    As the disillusioned Royals are bound to ask whether pension scam victims have anything to do with them (or whether they should even care about people who have lost their life savings or pensions), they might like to consider the following:

    • If Frogmore Cottage catches fire, Meghan and Harry will have to call the Fire Brigade. The sumptuous property cost £2.4 million to refurbish to the highest possible standard, but even the best sparks do sometimes make the odd mistake. The Royals’ home – and even their lives – will be in the hands of the firemen. These brave firefighters will risk their own lives running into the burning building; then will rescue the people and (hopefully) save the building.
    • If Meghan and Harry’s baby son Archie is unwell after inhaling smoke, they will rush him to hospital – where he will be tended to by nurses and doctors.
    • If a therapeutic trip to Canada is required (to get over the upset of their home being damaged by fire), the plane will be flown by two pilots.

    Pension and investment scammers target people from all works of life – including firemen, doctors, nurses and airline pilots. Next time the Sussexes place their hands into the lives of any of these professionals, they might like to consider whether these people are victims of scams and are worried sick about their financial losses.

    Scammers don’t care what their victims do for a living: sparks, chippies, builders, gardeners, taxi and bus drivers, soldiers, care workers, architects, scientists, accountants, artists, police officers…the list is endless – and includes airline pilots.

    Meghan and Harry need not think that going to Canada will get them far away from the world of pension and investment scams. These criminals have long arms and can easily reach as far as North America – and well beyond. The long list of highly-organised scams includes schemes in the UK and all expat jurisdictions across the globe – including Canada.

    Coming from a privileged background where Harry’s Mum gets paid more than £8 million a year (and Meghan and Harry are reportedly worth around £30 million), it is going to be hard to get their heads round the poverty thousands of victims are facing. Perhaps cutting the purse and apron strings will teach Meghan and Harry just how hard it is to earn a crust – and save for a retirement that isn’t handed to them on a plate.

    While the Duke and Duchess of Sussex fly backwards and forwards between the UK and Canada, perhaps they might like to ponder a few things:

    1. How to keep the plight of pension and investment scam victims in the headlines
    2. How to encourage the government to make financial regulation effective
    3. How to provide a law-enforcement system that ensures all scammers are jailed
    4. How to get the law changed to ensure HMRC pursues the perps rather than the victims
    5. Whether the pilot of their plane has lost his pension and hasn’t got his mind entirely on the job

    If Meghan and Harry do accept this challenge, they will have to accept that it won’t be easy. The scammers are determined, hard-nosed and hard-hearted criminals; the regulators are lazy and mostly asleep at the wheel; the police are over-stretched and under-resourced; the government hasn’t got a Scooby – and anyway can’t think beyond Brexit. This is evidenced by the fact that the moronic Chancellor Sajid Javid appointed arch FCA failure Andrew Bailey to govern the Bank of England. Boris Johnson was just as bonkers to endorse this ridiculous decision. When he told the Queen of the appointment, she should have given him a good slap round the earhole. (Mind you – she was probably a bit preoccupied about the company Uncle Andrew was keeping at the time, and she probably thought “oh well, at least Bailey isn’t a paedophile”).

    The biggest challenge in fighting pension and investment scams is how to help prevent further victims. The best way to do this is to keep the topic firmly in the public eye – and that means encouraging the press to keep the subject in the headlines (and not let it get shoved out of sight by trivia). The other important role that Meghan and Harry could play would be to ensure that politicians keep their promises. A couple of years ago Boris Johnson promised a group of his constituents that he would tackle pension scams. But nothing happened and now he is ignoring them. We all know he’s been a little busy recently, but leaving his own constituents hanging after promising he would help them is not acceptable.


    https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-7862039/Time-pensions-promise-Boris-PM-pledged-help-victims.html?ito=amp_twitter_share-related

    I remember being with two Ark victims at least five years ago and begging journalists at The Sunday Times and The Sun to run an article on the Ark scam.  They all said it wasn’t “sexy enough”.  Mark Atherton of The Times wrote a very good piece in The Times in 2014, but he was severely threatened and never wrote about pension scams again.  
    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/pension-scam-leaves-victims-in-debt-k33rlcs25wc

    Just think how many victims could have been prevented had the media done their duty and fully exposed the parties who caused and facilitated these scams since 2010.  Then think how many suicides and stress-related deaths could have been prevented.  Consider how much money could have been saved from destruction – and how many people could have been looking forward to a well-earned and comfortable retirement rather than abject poverty and misery. 

    In October 2019, The Mail’s Tom Kelly came to my office in Spain and spent several days with me.  I went through the whole history of Stephen Ward and Ark (followed by Capita Oak and more than a dozen others), as well as James Lau and Salmon Enterprises, Paul Baxendale-Walker, Peter Moat and Darren Kirby’s Continental Wealth Management.  I explained to Tom in detail how the flow of money works from the ceding pension providers: Aviva, Standard Life, Prudential, NHS, Police and Local Authorities etc., to the receiving schemes; what the difference between personal and DB pensions is and how the whole bogus occupational scheme fraud worked.  Most important, we went through how hidden commissions and high-risk, toxic investments often destroy victims’ funds – as well as the life bonds such as OMI, SEB, Generali, Friends Provident, RL360 which lock investors in to entirely unnecessary, inflexible and expensive offshore bonds – AND PAY FAT COMMISSIONS TO THE UNQUALIFIED, UNREGULATED SCAMMERS.

    In case Meghan and Harry are still unsure whether patronage of an initiative to outlaw pension and investment scams is their cup of tea, I will share, yet again, the video which features the death of CWM victim Mark Davison:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYlxu8YOaAM

    Fleeced by Darren and Jody Kirby of his pension and house, CWM victim died alone in abject poverty.

    Laura Shannon of The Mail On Sunday attended Mark’s memorial service and interviewed dozens of further CWM victims in September 2019.  While five months pregnant, Laura made the journey to Denia, Alicante, in fierce heat – putting all other so-called investigative journalists who write about financial services (or not, as the case may be) to shame.  Not even stopping to recover from an arduous bus journey from the airport, she got stuck straight in and wrote an excellent piece:  https://pension-life.com/continental-wealth-management-plunder-in-paradise/

    Responsibility for reforming financial services and bringing culpable parties to justice may lie with governments, regulators, police and HMRC. But Royals could do their part too. Meghan and Harry: get stuck in to a worthy cause. Find out what the real world is really like for ordinary, decent, hard-working victims of pension and investment scams.


    Finally, I am enormously grateful to Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell for calling out our idiot Chancellor Sajid Javid over the appalling appointment of Andrew Bailey as Governor of the Bank of England.  Anyone who fancies dropping him a line can reach him here: mcdonnellj@parliament.uk or here: lowderh@parliament.uk

  • Victims of Investment Fraud need Justice

    Victims of Investment Fraud need Justice

    As the decade comes to a close, it is clearer than ever that victims of investment fraud need justice. The dirtiest stain on society is that of pension and investment fraud. Scammers have made fortunes out of pension and investment scams in the UK and across the globe – in all leading expat jurisdictions. With little sign of this international crime abating, scammers continue making fortunes out of relieving people of their life savings.

    Dynamic Investment scam only tip of the iceberg
    The FCA managed to get out of bed (briefly) to bring to justice the scammer behind the Dynamic £600k investment scam. But completely overlooked over £1 billion worth of other investment scams.

    Meanwhile, the very authorities which should be preventing financial crime – regulators; law enforcement agencies; HMRC; Insolvency Service; government; courts – stand around clueless and helpless. Their inaction is embarrassing and disgusting – especially in the wake of the appalling announcement that Andrew Bailey has been appointed governor of the Bank of England.

    The saddest thing – for our society in general and existing victims in particular – is that it can be done. But we must ask ourselves why the criminals are brought to justice so seldom. On 20th December 2019, FT Adviser published an article reporting how one fraudster was brought to justice and ordered to pay redress to his victims.

    Manraj Singh Virdee of Dynamic UK Trades Ltd conned 24 victims out of more than £600,000. His method was to promise returns of 100% for investing in his forex trading and spread betting “expertise”. The FCA brought a case against this criminal who was convicted by Southwark Crown Court. The sentence was only a suspended prison sentence for running an unauthorised investment scheme. However, the court made a confiscation order against Singh Virdee of £171,913 – to be used to compensate the victims. If he doesn’t pay, he will be sentenced to two years in prison.

    It is indeed good to know that during a prolonged period of being asleep at the wheel, the FCA can do a wee bit of regulating. But why does Manraj Singh Virdee deserve to be sentenced for defrauding 24 victims out of £600,000 when so many other scammers have got away with defrauding many thousands of victims out of many £ millions?

    Victims of Investment Fraud need Justice: In 2020, pressure must be brought to bear on the inattentive, lazy and negligent authorities who have done nothing. It is simply not acceptable to turn a blind eye to so much financial crime. This is especially true when cases like the Singh Virdee one clearly demonstrate that if only they could be bothered, they could actually clean up the scamming industry. But, first, they have to want to do it. And as things stand, there is no evidence that they really do want to.

    While this would-be forex trader and spread better faces a couple of years behind bars, the rest of the scammers are still out there scamming away merrily and profitably. Shouldn’t 2020 be the year to make pension and investment scamming illegal? Because as things stand, the scammers know they can get away with it easily.

    Singh Virdee’s scam was pretty obvious, and I do not mean to trivialise the £600k he scammed out of his victims. But this is dwarfed by Stephen Ward‘s £3 million London Quantum pension scam; David Vilka‘s £7 million GFS QROPS scam; Stephen Ward and XXXX XXXX’s £10 million Capita Oak pension scam; XXXX XXXX’s £21 million Trafalgar Multi Asset QROPS investment scam; Phillip Nunn and Patrick McCreesh‘s £25 million Blackmore Bond investment scam; Stephen Ward’s £27 million Ark pension scam; Phillip Nunn and Patrick McCreesh‘s £41 million Blackmore Global investment scam; Old Mutual International and Leonteq‘s £94 million investment/life bond scam; London Capital & Finance‘s £230 million mini bond scam; Dolphin Trust‘s £600 million derelict property loan scam.

    So, come on FCA: £600,000 down – only £1,158,000,000 to go!

  • Pension Life – Pension File November 2019

    Pension Life – Pension File November 2019

    FCA and FOS continue to dismay and disgust; CWM criminal case set to change offshore financial services; Forged dealing instructions epidemic; Offshore advisory firms without an investment license.

    Pension Life Pension File - a round up of the disgusting disasters in the UK and offshore in the murky world of financial services. From the FCAand the FOS to scammers and facilitators of financial crime, this world is like the toilets in the FCA's offices: need a damn good clean.

    It now emerges that on top of a failed “City Watchdog” (the Federated Consolidation of Apathy) we also have not just one, but two failed ombudsmen.

    The FCA has had a light bulb moment as it announces a “temporary ban” on the promotion of unregulated mini bonds. This so-called “nuclear” option is due to start in January 2020 and is scheduled to last for just one year. Presumably, the FCA will have lost interest by then. Or perhaps the huge effort required to teach FCA staff how to use a toilet will have exhausted them anyway. Maybe the new parliament will close the whole thing down and set up a proper regulator – ideally run by a mixture of proper professionals and also some victims (who are the real experts on regulatory failures).

    In an “FFS!” moment, the FCA is now rivaled by the FOS as it too is exposed as a failure by the Glassdoor employees review site. One FOS employee reviewer stated: “Management has been hauled up in front of the Treasury on more than one occasion; it has received and continues to receive negative comments on Glassdoor; it has been subject of investigation by Dispatches but nothing has changed.” Sounds just like the FCA – at least the two organisations are consistent in a unified manner. Perhaps Amerdeep Somal (Head of the FOS) and Andrew Bailey (would-be Head of the Bank of England) consider this to be a good achievement?

    Sadly, the Pensions Ombudsman is no better either. Complaints where negligent, lazy, apathetic ceding providers – such as Standard Life, Aviva, Prudential and Scottish Widows – have handed over £ millions to pension scams, are not upheld. The Ombudsman’s excuse is that the “Scorpion” campaign which warned the public and the industry about the dangers of pension liberation fraud was not published until February 14th 2013. The Ombudsman conveniently forgets to mention that there had been a very clear and loud warning back in 2010 – by OPRA (the forerunner of the Pensions Ombudsman). But it would seem that no British regulators or ombudsmen ever let the truth get in the way of defending big, toxic institutions which are “too big to fail”.

    Continental Wealth Management's Jody Bell (Smart, Kirby) and her partner Darren Kirby will now be cross examined in the criminal court for a second time in February 2020.

    In Spain, the Criminal Justice System has, at long last, decided that the CWM (Continental Wealth Management) scam run by Jody Smart, Darren Kirby and an assortment of silver-tongued scammers must be brought to justice. This follows a year-long initiative to document the £100 million scam operated by the Costa Blanca based firm and facilitated by life (death) offices Old Mutual International, SEB and Generali. It is hoped that Smart, Kirby and the rest of the motley crew of advisers such as Dean Stogsdill, Anthony Downs, Neil Hathaway, Richard Peasley, Phill Pennick and Dennis Radford will serve long prison sentences.

    The Spanish criminal court has made an order that the life offices (OMI, SEB, Generali) and all those connected to Continental Wealth Management – and who facilitated their crimes in the years up to 2017 when the firm collapsed – will be called to give evidence. In particular, the risk profiles and forged signatures on dealing instructions will be brought into evidence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYlxu8YOaAM&t=12s

    Part of the Continental Wealth Management scam was the repeated use of forged signatures on dealing instructions. This practice became accepted by life offices such as OMI from 2010 onwards as the volume of business coming in from scammers became extremely lucrative. Scammers such as Darren Kirby and his team of bogus “advisers” (who went on to work for firms such as Spectrum IFA Group and Pennick Blackwell) would use a blank dealing instruction bearing the victim’s signature to “churn” the fund and maximise the commissions earned. The favourite investments were structured notes from rogue providers such as Commerzbank, Royal Bank of Canada, Nomura and Leonteq.

    Old Mutual International facilitated millions of pounds' worth of financial crime from scammers such as CWM. Thousands of dealing instructions had forged investor signatures - but this was "good business" for the likes of OMI.

    Old Mutual International, SEB and Generali accepted thousands of dealing instructions from scammers such as Continental Wealth Management. On top of knowing full well that such firms had no investment license (in fact, CWM had no license of any kind) and no qualifications to give investment advice, OMI and the other rogue death offices repeatedly accepted these dealing instructions with obviously forged signatures.

    CWM and a number of other firms would trick victims into signing a blank dealing instruction. Then they would countersign it with an illegible signature. These blank investment forms would then be photocopied repeatedly – sometimes for many years – as the victims’ funds were churned and repeatedly invested in high-risk investments such as toxic structured notes.

    Old Mutual International actively encouraged this financial crime by paying unlicensed scammers like CWM 8% commissions to flog expensive, unnecessary life bonds – and then flog the risky, toxic investments offered on the life office platform.

    One of the structured note providers – Leonteq – is now being sued by OMI for the £94 million worth of especially toxic notes sold to hundreds of victims to destroy their funds and pay the scammers an extra 2% commission “under the table”. However, OMI put these structured notes on their platform in the first place, and accepted the forged dealing instructions in the second place. Difficult to see how this was anyone’s fault other than Old Mutual’s.

    Part of the syndrome of offshore financial crime being routinely accepted by life offices, is the proliferation of “advisory” firms operating without being fully licensed. There is a cheesy urban myth that a firm can give investment advice if it flogs victims an insurance bond and then picks from the selection of toxic, high-risk investments being offered by the bond provider. This isn’t deemed to be “investment advice” as the so-called adviser is merely assisting the investor to make his own decisions (i.e. give himself advice). This practice has gone on for years – and is still going on with firms such as Spectrum IFA Group which openly advertises the fact that it gives investment advice, even though it has no investment license.

    The FCA is now being rivaled by the FOS and the POS for the lowest standards.

    While the FCA wouldn’t have the slightest interest in what goes on offshore (after all, it doesn’t give a toss what happens in the UK either), the Malta FSA has at least made sure that only licensed advisers give investment advice on Malta’s watch. An advisory firm with an insurance license can still flog insurance bonds that few people need and even fewer can afford, but Malta will no longer accept investment advice from such “Chiringuitos” (Spanish for financial scammer). This has, of course, resulted in an exodus to Gibraltar where the scammers can pretty much do what they like. The Gibraltar Financial Services Commission actively encourages scams. STM Fidecs – bogus QROPS trustees for the Trafalgar Multi Asset Fund scam (under investigation by the Serious Fraud Office) – and the Blackmore Global investment scam perpetrated by serial scammers Phillip Nunn and Patrick McCreesh – are still flourishing happily on the Gib rock. The Gib FSC stands idly by and does nothing. Obviously, the Gib lot are trying to emulate the FCA – and succeeding happily.

    It will take more than a few fireworks to clean up the financial services mess in the UK, in expat jurisdictions across the globe, and in the FCA’s toilets.

  • Park First

    I’ve been asked by a number of Park First investors to help them decide how to vote in the forthcoming vote – 25th November 2019.

    There are many options and decisions, with communications coming out from various related and interested parties. It is understandable that investors have some difficult choices and are being given conflicting and often confusing information. So I am going to try to put the decision into context to help people to decide.

    Putting aside the rights, wrongs and merits for the moment, there are two options that investors have to decide on by the 25th November. But this is just the first of many decisions which will have to be made in the coming months. So here’s a diagram to put it as simply as possible:

    Park First investors have to chose between administration by Smith & Williamson or liquidation by Quantuma on 25th November 2019.
    Park First investors need to vote for Administration or Liquidation

    In a nutshell, if investors vote for the Administration there is a range of options – including liquidation if that is what the investors vote for once the Administration has presented all the facts and figures. And the £33 million set aside (put on the table) by Toby Whittaker will be used to give the Buyback investors their money back. If the investors vote for the Liquidation instead of the Administration on 25th November, the £33 million comes off the table and the Buyback investors will not get their money back.

    The liquidation option is being offered by Quantuma and Dow Schofield Watts. If the investors opt for the liquidation choice and reject the administration by Smith & Williamson, the costs will be paid out of the assets which will be sold off to pay the professional fees. The businesses will also probably cease trading.

    The administration is currently in place with Smith & Williamson and the costs are being paid for by Toby Whittaker at no cost to the investors.

    I have spent a few weeks talking to Quantuma, Smith & Williamson and their solicitors Mishcon de Reya, as well as Park First and their solicitors’ Paul Hastings. I have also spoken to investors and associates of mine who are professionally interested in what is going on. I can see that there are is dilemma for the investors and unfortunately, not a lot of time to make up their minds about which way to vote.

    The bottom line is that if investors vote for the administration, they will be offered liquidation as a subsequent option. If they vote for the liquidation, there are no subsequent options. I have encouraged Quantuma to hang back and put forward their liquidation proposal once the administration is further forward and the investors know more about the finances of Park First.

    I see a close similarity between the Park First dilemma and the Brexit one. If British citizens had known more about Brexit or Remain, perhaps millions would have voted differently. Many people regretted their first decision because they only found out afterwards how many different versions of Brexit there would be (a wide range of deals, no deal, long-term economic impacts etc). A large proportion of the British population wish they had known more about their options before the referendum. And this is more or less where the Park First investors are.

    The vote on Monday 25th November will also decide between two people who will be at the helm: Finbarr O’Connell of Smith & Williamson or Carl Jackson of Quantuma.

    Smith & Williamson’s Finbarr O’Connell is a chartered accountant and licensed insolvency practitioner. He is a past president of the Insolvency Practitioners’ Association. He has recently been appointed as administrator to London Capital & Finance. His track record of successful administrations includes gold mines, Ukrainian wheat farms, a nuclear power plant and the Caterham Formula 1 team. Even with my sharpest spade, I haven’t been able to uncover any skeletons in his cupboard.

    Quantuma’s Carl Jackson is also a chartered accountant and licensed insolvency practitioner. However, I haven’t been able to find out anything more about his track record except the fact that he was ordered by the ICAEW to pay a fine of £5,000 and costs of £83,557 after he admitted failing to collect £330,000 of creditors’ funds in a liquidation.

    The ICAEW Tribunal reported that Jackson failed to collect £330,000 from an agent on behalf of a liquidated company’s creditors and that he hadn’t made a full and proper disclosure to the creditors. The £330k had gone to a bank account in Monaco rather than to Jackson’s solicitors’ bank account. The Tribunal also found that Jackson had not disclosed the full amount recovered from directors; payments remitted to the agent; fees the agent was claiming and seeking to offset against the funds; and the extent of the difficulties in recovering the funds wrongly retained by the agent.

    I make no judgement for or against either O’Connell or Jackson and am entirely neutral on this issue. But O’Connell has a long track record of recovering and protecting hundreds of millions of pounds’ worth of creditors’ funds. While Jackson doesn’t.

    Park First investors face a dilemma as they are invited to vote for administration or liquidation of the Park First companies.

    In the past couple of weeks, I cannot fault the parties for their willingness to communicate and provide information on the proposals moving forward. But when I attended the creditors’ meeting on 1st October, I was struck by the strong feelings of anger and confusion in equal measure. The investors need to see some clarity and they want to understand just two things:

    • What their investments are worth
    • What refunds and returns they will get

    At the first Park First creditors’ meeting, there was little talk of the intervention by the FCA in the Park First matter – and the role they have played in the uncertainty currently experienced by more than 4,000 investors. I do hope that a thorough investigation of this matter will disclose the FCA’s actions in full. All being well, heads will roll – hopefully the right heads.

    One thing the FCA did get right, however, was that it reminded investors that liquidation should always be a LAST RESORT. Liquidation is the equivalent of a “fire sale”. The liquidator gets paid first; then the taxman; then the investors get whatever crumbs are left over. An administration involves all creditors (investors) getting a fair slice of the whole cake. In the FCA’s own words: “It is the administrators’ task to explore whether it is possible to rescue the companies and thereby achieve a better outcome for creditors than liquidation.”

  • How risky are structured products – and fireworks?

    How risky are structured products – and fireworks?

    Normally a great fan of FT Adviser – and their excellent, independent journalists – I was horrified at the recent “Guide to Structured Products” (particularly the section on how risky they are by Craig Rickman).

    Structured notes are as dangerous as fireworks and should only be used by qualified, licensed professionals.

    Noting that this article can be used towards CPD credits, I was astonished that so little attention was paid to the toxic legacy of so many structured notes since 2008. And how Rickman has failed to mention the many thousands of lives which have been ruined – as well as how many people have died or taken their own lives because of being sold these products by unscrupulous con men masquerading as advisers.

    It is not just the rogue advisers who are at fault for flogging structured notes to their unsuspecting victims – it is the life offices such as Old Mutual International who offer them on their platforms of toxic investment rubbish (including such snorters as LM, Axiom, Premier New Earth, Kijani and Quadris Forestry).

    Rickman refers to “lessons learned” and quotes how a high street bank was fined £1.5m in 2012 for flogging so-called capital-guaranteed structured products in the UK. Of course, the reality was (and is) that there is no such thing as a fool-proof capital guarantee. It is all just a question of relative risks. But the scammers just love the phrase “capital guarantee” because it virtually guarantees their victims won’t question the investments in such products. And when the losses start to appear, the advisers will fob the victims off with the well-worn phrase “don’t worry – it’s just a paper loss”. By the time the structured notes mature and the losses are crystalised, the adviser is long gone.

    It is a great shame that Rickman omits any mention of the huge offshore scandal which has been going on since around 2008. This consists of a cartel of rotten-to-the core life offices including OMI (IoM and Ireland), SEB, Generali and various other members of AILO (Association of International Life Offenders). These AILO members have been promoting and facilitating international financial crime for almost a decade and have made vast fortunes out of their evil trade.

    Of course, high-risk structured notes have played a major part in this worldwide crime. These products – particularly those flogged by Commerzbank, Royal Bank of Canada, Nomura, Leonteq and BNP Paribas – were routinely sold through armies of unlicensed, unqualified “chiringuitos financieros” (financial scammers) so that thousands of unsuspecting victims could be relieved of their life savings. The ultimate goal was, naturally, the huge commissions paid to line the scammers’ pockets.

    I once tried to get my head round exactly how structured notes work and I asked a senior manager from one of the providers to give me a couple of hours to get me up to speed. The only thing I knew for sure about structured notes was that they were routinely abused by scammers such as Continental Wealth Management. And that victims would typically lose half their life savings – and sometimes more (much more).

    The structured note expert was doing well with me as his pupil for about five minutes as he gave me a broad introduction. Then, sadly, he switched from English to Japanese, then Serbo Croatian, Icelandic and Māori . By the time he changed to Xhosa, I am afraid I was a lost cause. But I had a nice time checking out my Facebook while he gabbled on. I am no expert by a long way – but I think I know a wee bit more than the average man on the street. And I think my conclusion that structured notes should never be used for retail, unsophisticated investors is correct. In fact, that is what it almost always says on the tin:

    • Not for retail distribution
    • For professional investors only
    • Due to the complex nature of these products, investors should be made aware of the risk of loss of part or all of the capital

    And then there is what isn’t on the tin:

    • Offered by bent life offices such as Old Mutual International who do no due diligence or “asset reviews” on such products
    • Routinely used by scammers because they love the concealed high commissions
    • Have caused hundreds of millions of pounds’ worth of losses in the past ten years

    Old Mutual International – lover of all unlicensed, unqualified scammers across the globe – is now suing Leonteq for £94 million worth of toxic structured notes. The widespread use of these products has resulted in devastating losses – and victims have died as a result.

    Ironically, OMI aboss Peter Kenny is quoted as saying: “I would encourage all industry participants to work together to eradicate poor practices once and for all.” And for once I agree with him – shutting down OMI altogether would be a great start.

    Any investment is only ever as good as the quality of the advice given to the investor. Whether it is a structured note (e.g. Leonteq); a fund (e.g. Woodford Equity Income fund); a bond (e.g. London Capital & Finance); property (e.g. Dolphin Trust); an EIS (e.g. Guy Myles‘ Octopus) or the local bookmaker.

    How risky are structured products – and fireworks? And how good, safe and suitable are they?

    When I say “good” I mean “suitable“. And there’s the rub: what is claimed to be suitable by so many so-called advisers is actually suitable for their own pockets but totally unsuitable for their clients. Of course, another problem is that there are armies of firms which call themselves advisers but don’t have an investment license. They claim that they can give investment advice with an insurance license so long as they con their victims into using an expensive, pointless insurance bond (such as OMI, SEB, Generali, RL360, Friends Provident etc) and then pick from the many toxic investments offered on the bond provider’s platform.

    I like comparing structured notes to fireworks. They both need to be handled with great care and should only be used by those qualified and authorised to deploy them. With fireworks in the UK, every year thousands of people are injured and end up in hospital with scars which will last a lifetime. With structured notes, thousands people are suffering from the loss of their life savings. There have been deaths and suicide attempts – and there will inevitably be more.

    Journalists – especially financial reporters – have a duty to inform and warn the public. It is a great pity that Craig Rickman of FT Adviser has missed such an excellent opportunity to expose this rotten sector of the financial services industry. If this article qualified for CPD credits, then he also missed a golden opportunity to help financial services professionals learn to protect consumers from the dangers of structured products – and the scammers who peddle them.

  • Dalriada Trustees – Ark Pension Liberation Scam

    Dalriada Trustees – Ark Pension Liberation Scam

    While Dalriada Trustees and Pinsent Masons count their handsome earnings, HMRC prepare to ruin the victims with unauthorised tax charges from the Ark pension liberation scam.

    Dalriada Trustees - a better way than what?

    Dalriada Trustees were appointed by the Pensions Regulator on 31st May 2011 to take over the six Ark schemes: Cranbourne; Grosvenor, Tallton Place, Lancaster, Portman and Woodcroft.

    Designed, set up, promoted and operated by Andrews Isles of Isles and Storer Accountants, Stephen Ward of Premier Pension Solutions and Craig Tweedley of Castlerock Consulting, the Ark schemes were operating pension liberation fraud. Other promoters and introducers included Gary Collin of Asset Harbour (FCA-registered mortgage broker and will writer) and Julian Hanson (who went on to promote and distribute the Barratt and Dalton pension scam) through a scheme called:

    MAXIMISING PENSION VALUE ARRANGEMENTS (a reciprocal version of straightforward pension busting).

    Since their appointment, Dalriada Trustees have paid themselves a total of £1,637,795 in trustees’ fees from the Ark members’ cash. This is broken down as follows:

    • £293,976 Cranbourne
    • £209,620 Grosvenor
    • £292,469 Tallton
    • £246,177 Lancaster
    • £402,677 Portman
    • £192,876 Woodcroft

    In addition to the £1,637,795 paid to Dalriada, £4,041,579 was paid to their solicitors, Pinsent Masons. This figure will have included fees paid to their QC Fenner Moeran.

    This means that 20.85% of the original transfer value of £27,237,257 has now been spent on trustees’ and solicitors’ fees.

    Pinsent Masons - hired by Dalriada Trustees to bankrupt the Ark victims.

    During the past eight years, none of the liquid funds have been invested by Dalriada. Every year, the value of the funds shrinks naturally as there is nothing to protect them from inflation and the impact of charges on the cash and investments.

    After Dalriada’s appointment on 31.5.2011, they allowed a further £1,730,626 worth of transfers which should have been rejected. Ark victims who were given MPVA “loans” are now being taxed at 55% by HMRC. Ark victims who weren’t given MPVA “loans” are also now being taxed at 55% by HMRC. Dalriada and Pinsent Masons are forcing victims to repay the “loans” – even though they will still be taxed by HMRC.

    Despite the fact that nearly 500 Ark victims have paid Dalriada Trustees and Pinsent Masons £5,679,374 in fees, what have they actually delivered?

    • What financial help has been given to the members for challenging HMRC? Answer: NONE
    • How many victims have been allowed to transfer out of the Ark scheme? Answer: NONE
    • How many victims have been allowed to take their PCLS? Answer: NONE
    • Is there any idea how many more years Dalriada will keep the Ark pensions suspended? Answer: NONE
    • Is there any limit on how much more Dalriada and Pinsent Masons can keep paying themselves in fees? Answer: NONE
    • How many of the scammers behind Ark have been prosecuted? Answer: NONE
    • How much of the Ark members’ funds have been invested? Answer: NONE

    How many more pension schemes have Dalriada been appointed to since 2014? Answer: 31

    Based on an average of £1,000,000 a year paid to Dalriada and Pinsent Masons out of the members funds since 2011, the total to May 2019 will be at least £6.5 million (although the accounts won’t be available until at least January 2020).

    And based on all of the above – IS THERE A BETTER WAY?

  • A Tale of Two Investments

    A Tale of Two Investments

    “Best of times. Worst of times. Age of wisdom and foolishness. Epoch of belief and incredulity. Season of light and darkness. Spring of hope; winter of despair.”

    You would be forgiven for thinking the above was written about the world of pensions and investments (by someone far more eloquent than me). However, it was written by the mighty Charles Dickens on the subject of the French Revolution in the late 1700s.

    There are strong parallels between both events: in the French Revolution, many thousands of lives were destroyed and society broken down in an era when turmoil and terror reigned. Since 2010 in the UK and offshore, a similar breakdown in the stability of society has taken place – with even more lives being destroyed.

    Investment abuse.

    Investment abuse is one of the biggest causes of darkness and despair in modern times. Thousands of victims are seeing their life savings put at risk every year – the causes range from outright fraud and mis-selling to negligence and greed (on the part of advisers, introducers and promoters). But what makes this abuse even more sinister, is that the FCA does nothing to help. And, even worse, sometimes it does something to hinder.

    Regulators in the UK and offshore do nothing to help. But sometimes they do something to hinder. Unnecessarily.

    Let’s compare two investments which have been in the spotlight in 2019: MANAGED FUNDS and AIRPORT CAR PARKS.

    Citywire’s Bottom Performers Chart for 2019

    In the case of the former, the FCA’s track record is appalling – it was slow and did nothing in the case of two funds: Neil Woodford’s Equity Income Fund and Mark Barnett’s Invesco funds. As a result, more than 300,000 investors face suspension of the funds – so they can’t get their money out, and will suffer inevitable heavy losses when they can.

    In the case of the latter, the FCA has taken two lots of contradictory actions – it agreed a restructuring of Toby Whittaker’s Park First in 2017, then in 2019 it reneged on the agreement and forced the company into administration. Investors – somewhat understandably – believe that Whittaker has failed to make payments he agreed to make back in 2017. However, in reality it is the FCA which has prevented him from doing so as a result of disruptive and contradictory regulatory action.

    Both sets of investments had their own strengths and weaknesses. There’s no such thing as the perfect investment and all investments carry a degree of risk. The problem lay with the promotion of the investments.

    In the case of the Woodford Equity Income fund, there was Hargreaves Lansdown promoting it heavily – right up until immediately before the fund was suspended. One Trust Pilot reviewer said: “H and L are always pushing funds (presumably because you get commissions etc) but you were made to look devious over WOODFORD, so I think impartiality has to be addressed with regards to FUNDS”. Another reports liquidity issues: “Fabulous while you are investing with them. But try to get your money out – that’s a different matter. Still waiting for them to transfer my funds after 3 months. The delay is totally unacceptable.” A third reviewer is even more disgusted: “Another Woodford/Lansdown victim left nursing losses due to taking on board their advice. This wasnt just a case of poor performance, this was a former reputable company using its name to push an income fund heavily invested in illiquid stocks up to the point of it folding, a move that has cost investors millions. An untrustworthy company with lots of questions to answer.”

    In the case of Park First, there were large numbers of advisers all over the World who advised their clients to put too much of their money into the investment. A more prudent approach would have been to spread the money over a variety of different assets (and avoid the “eggs in one basket” syndrome). It is also clear that these same advisers have often encouraged their clients to blame Park First’s Toby Whittaker for the current uncertainty in the run up to the creditors’ vote for the administration scheduled for 25th November 2019. The reality is that the advisers and the FCA have a lot of blame to shoulder. There’s nothing wrong with the car parks themselves: the planes are still flying (with the exception of Thomas Cook); the passengers are still driving their cars to the airport; the car parks are still doing a roaring trade. And this is set to continue unabated for years to come.

    Investors in both the managed investment funds (Woodford and Invesco) are rightly peeved – their investments have not performed well; and they didn’t understand the degrees of liquidity, diversity and risk. It is now a matter of public record that both Woodford and Barnett suffered from the same syndrome: they were legends in their own lunchboxes. They took unacceptable risks – gambling with investors’ life savings; throwing caution and prudence to the winds.

    Having successfully strayed into high-risk strategies in the past, they thought they would always be so lucky. But their luck ran out. Now they are having to unload the worst of the illiquid, risky stuff (crap) and are advertising: “Please will somebody (anybody) buy our unlisted shares – we desperately need the cash. We thought they were under valued. Seems we were wrong. Any takers? We’re in a bit of a hurry!”

    Not exactly a position of strength from which to bargain. Neither of them will have a future in anything to do with investments other than perhaps serving as a reminder that: “past  performance  may  not  be  indicative  of  future  results”!

    By comparison, Toby Whittaker’s Park First looks a much better bet. The only things that could possibly go wrong are that Glasgow, Gatwick and Luton airports get shut down, or that Elon Musk will invent a Tesla that will drive itself home alone from the airport.

    The good thing about Park First is that it is a tangible, known, concrete (tarmac) asset. The car parks exist and are in no way speculative – there’s a proven and growing market for the car parks. There are no bad debts (nobody ever says “sorry I can’t pay – can I have 90 days please?”). Personally, I would never use a Park First airport car park – but only because I don’t have a driving license or a car. And even if I did, I live in Spain.

    So, from investment funds and bonds, to airport car parks, the real problem seems to be who promotes them and what the regulator does (or doesn’t do) when it looks like things aren’t going to plan. The FCA first investigated the Woodford fund’s performance three years ago – but took no action (despite clear evidence that Woodford was investing heavily in “hard-to-value, unlisted, illiquid assets”). The most that Andrew Bailey could bring himself to say at the time was that he felt “uncomfortable”.

    So no evidence of anything more serious than wearing his Y-fronts back to front.

    The Woodford fund is now being liquidated by Link Fund Solutions – and the investors have no say in the future of their investments. It will be a “fire sale” – with the liquidator getting first dibs on the cash. The investors – as is always the case – will be at the back of the queue.

    Park First investors are in a better position, as the administrator is Finbarr O’Connell of Smith and Williamson. A licensed insolvency practitioner and chartered accountant, Finbarr has been involved in restructuring and insolvency assignments for the last 33 years and is a past president of the Insolvency Practitioners’ Association. He engaged enthusiastically with investors at the creditors’ meeting in London on 1st October, and will be in the chair again on 25th November. He is offering investors a wide range of options in order to either get their money back or see their investment in safe hands and producing healthy returns.

    Finbarr is also joint administrator of London Capital & Finance which has seen 11,600 investors dismayed at the collapsed of this ultra-high-risk “mini bond”. In March 2019, there were four arrests made by the Serious Fraud Office in connection with this case – and the man behind Surge Group (Paul Careless) was also arrested for promoting it. London Capital & Finance shows the extreme end of investing: outright fraud. Neither the Woodford fund nor Park First are – or ever were – frauds. However, they were both undoubtedly widely mis-sold.

    While the Woodford investors have no voice in the liquidation of the Woodford fund, at least Park First investors have a vote – and the chance to avoid liquidation.

  • Halloween ghouls and scammers

    Halloween ghouls and scammers

    Happy Halloween – but do watch out for scary monsters. ESPECIALLY PENSION SCAMMERS!

    The scariest monsters at Halloween (or, indeed, at any time of the year) are the bad guys in financial services.  As my dear old Mum used to say: “It’s not the dead you should be afraid of – it’s the living”.

    Never mind ghouls, ghosts and monsters; beware the death bond salesmen who will try to destroy your life savings.  

    Death bonds – be they from OMI, SEB, Generali, Lombard, Prudential International or Friends Provident – all do the same job: nothing.  Except pay huge commissions to the scammers who flog them.

    First ghoul to watch out for is Dennis Radford of The Spectrum IFA Group. The firm itself is not regulated at all: not for insurance; not for investment; not for trimming a witch’s cat’s nails. It seems to have an association with a Spanish insurance firm called Baskerville Advisers S.L. which claims to have an insurance license. But this does not mean that either Baskerville or Spectrum can provide investment advice legally. If Spectrum does provide investment advice, it is committing a criminal offence.

    Dennis Radford – quoted on the Spectrum IFA Group website as being a specialist in “All areas of Wealth Management” – claims to provide tax-efficient retirement planning and Spanish-compliant investments. This means he is breaking the law as he cannot advise on investments as the firm is not licensed. It is also clear that by mentioning “tax-efficient” and “Spanish-compliant” he is referring to death bonds. Ergo, he is merely a bond salesman flogging expensive, pointless bonds to victims who don’t need them and can’t afford them.

    Dennis Radford: Halloween Ghoul or just an unqualified, ex CWM scammer?

    Radford has another problem: he purports to be a member of the Chartered Insurance Institute. It is possible that he might have passed an exam in the past, but that he has now let his membership lapse. Either way, he is NOT qualified.

    But, Radford’s biggest problem of all is that he is an ex Continental Wealth Management scammer. Along with all the other unqualified, unscrupulous scammers – such as Darren Kirby, Dean Stogsdill, Anthony Downs, Neil Hathaway, Richard Peasley and Marco Floreale – Radford was flogging death bonds from OMI, SEB and Generali and putting his victims into toxic structured notes.

    Pension Life already investigated Spectrum IFA Group last year and found the firm to be full of unqualified “advisers”.

    Evidence strongly suggests that Dennis Radford is vigorously selling insurance bonds. The DGS has already ruled that the way pointless, expensive insurance bonds are sold is illegal. ILLEGAL as in a criminal offence. The Spanish Supreme Court has ruled that life assurance policies used to hold investments are INVALID.

    Of course, Dennis Radford is not alone. Another ex Continental Wealth Management scammer is Phill Pennick. He now runs a firm called Pennick Blackwell and continues to flog death bonds. Pennick claims to be a qualified mortgage broker, but quotes no qualifications as a financial adviser. He is not listed either on the CII or CISI register. Which means he is not qualified to provide financial advice. In fact, he is just another death bond salesman.

    Pennick put one of his victims recently into an Old Mutual International bond (which was a pointless exercise – other than to pay Pennick a fat commission) and then invested the whole pension into one single fund. This was undoubtedly for a further fat (undisclosed) commission.

    Pennick Blackwell (well-known for cold calling) is an amusing firm – it seems to consist of three unqualified idiots: ex CWM scammer Phill Pennick himself; an ex-barman called Kris Taft (who obviously can neither spell Chris not Daft) who claims to have a “genuine desire to help people”. If this were true, Taft (or Daft – or whatever his real name is) wouldn’t be aiding and abetting Pennick in flogging death bonds.

    The worst of the Halloween ghouls are, undoubtedly, the death bond providers themselves. Firms such as Old Mutual International, SEB, Generali, RL360, Hansard, Lombard, Friends Provident and Prudential International, give terms of business to unregulated scammers (such as Continental Wealth Management).

    Just after Halloween, there’s a “Finance Tour” roadshow on the Costa Blanca. Old Mutual International’s Ryan Perkins – Area Sales Manager responsible for flogging these toxic products throughout Europe – had been due to attend. This would have been good as he could have apologised personally to some of the many hundreds of victims of OMI whose life savings have been destroyed. OMI’s business model is to give terms of business to unlicensed firms, known scammers and unqualified “advisers” who are only after the fat commissions. OMI knows perfectly well that the victims who get put into these bonds will be conned into investing in expensive, risky assets which pay even more commissions to the scammers.

    However, it seems Perkins has pulled out of the roadshow. Perhaps he was worried about how many CWM victims would be attending and demanding to know what OMI intends to do about their losses. Clearly a coward, Perkins will have to find other ways of meeting his sales targets by taking the scammers out to lunch – away from the glare of existing victims.

    Perkins – and lily-livered CEO of OMI Peter Kenny – could have perhaps promised to make a donation to CWM-victim Mark Davison’s family at the roadshow. Mark – whose pension was placed in an OMI death bond – died a miserable death after his entire pension was destroyed after being invested in toxic structured notes offered by OMI such as Commerzbank, Royal Bank of Canada, Nomura and Leonteq.

    Anyone who is interested in this event (advertised in last week’s Euro Weekly News – once so beloved of serial scammer CWM joint-founder Paul Clarke) will be able to attend in Camposol, Los Alcazares, Orihuela Costa, Quesada, Calpe and Javea.

    I hope that some of the victims of the CWM (and other) scams will go along to this event. That way they can help educate the industry, clean up the dross of financial services and get back to proper, regulated, qualified, fee-based, death-bond-free financial advice.

    Happy Halloween!

    (forget the ghouls – just watch out for the scammers!)



  • Pension Life – Pension File October 2019

    Pension Life – Pension File October 2019

    The Kiwis were grass and England was a lawnmower. For a couple of hours we forgot Brexit and remembered our national pride.

    In a Week that saw an inconclusive result in the UK v Europe match (yet again), at least England taught New Zealand how to play rugby.

    And the battle against pension scams moved up a gear as the press reported on the first round in the victims v scammers tournament.

    Olive Press journalist Joshua Parfitt reported on the first round of the criminal proceedings in Denia on the Costa not so Blanca. His surprisingly well-written article pulled no punches as it exposed the one million Euros that Continental Wealth Management boss Jody Smart Bell Kirby Pearson took out of the business in the two years before it collapsed in September 2017.

    Former cleaner Jody claims she was only a “non-active” director of Continental Wealth and that the company was run by former boyfriend Darren Kirby. She also claims that her property company Mercurio Compro S.L. (which received 670k of the million) was just a front for Darren’s property dealings and that he used the company bank account because he didn’t have his own personal bank account.

    Jody’s fashion business – Jody Bell – received 326k of the million. At least she hasn’t tried to claim that this was Darren’s business in reality (and that he had taken to designing frilly frocks between scamming 1,000 investors out of their life savings).

    Whichever way you look at it, however, Jody paid herself 1 million Euros on top of her salary of 280,000 Euros. But this was only during the last two years of the life of doomed Continental Wealth – we still don’t know how many millions she paid herself prior to that – at the height of the structured note/insurance bond scam operated by Darren and his team.

    There’s an interesting comment on the Olive Press article: English naivete is amazing given any chance for a quick return. Doesn’t anybody do due diligence when it comes to investment? This is like episodes on ” L’l Britain”.

    Due diligence would, indeed, have revealed that Continental Wealth operated without a license and that the staff were not qualified.

    Until 2015, Continental Wealth claimed to be an “agent” of a firm in Cyprus called Inter Alliance – and that this allowed the CWM scammers to use the Cyprus license. However, this was entirely untrue as Inter Alliance never had any license and had in fact been fined by the Cyprus regulator for falsely claiming to be licensed.

    Interestingly, when I click on the Olive Press Article, an irritating advert for Abbey Wealth keeps popping up. The ad offers the same old same old scammers’ trick: “free pension review”. So, coming from the same “stable” as Jody and Darren’s Continental Wealth scam, let’s do our due diligence on Abbey Wealth.

    According to the Abbey Wealth website, there are 17 “Senior Wealth” Managers. Most of these have no verifiable evidence of any qualifications, and quite a few are former mortgage brokers. Despite there being no investment license for the firm, several mention investments:

    Ben Noifeld: “investment solutions”; Christian Holbrook: “providing highly-regulated, tax-efficient investment solutions”; Mark Smith: “portfolio management and investment planning”; Michael Chambers: “making clients comfortable with their investments”.

    In Spain, all these “Senior Wealth Managers” are committing a criminal offence by promoting investment advice without a license”.

    There’s one chap – Craig Allanson – who claims to be a Senior International Pensions Adviser, despite no evidence of any qualifications. And the Managing Partner – Victor France – has no evidence of any qualifications (as well as being ex Old Mutual – the kiss of death as far as most Continental Wealth victims are concerned).

    However, there is one adviser who is indeed Chartered: Ian Boden. But why on earth would a man who states he “holds the highest level of qualification of Fellowship and Chartered Financial Planner status with the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII)” work for a firm with no investment license? He, of all people, should know better. He’s either desperate or has some dark skeleton lurking in his cupboard.

    The final nail in the coffin is that the firm’s insurance license is from the Central Bank of Ireland. So there’s no protection for any of the clients if anything goes wrong. The Irish Ombudsman is hopeless, never upholds any victims’ complaints and is clearly bent towards Irish-licensed firms and against their victims. The Ombudsman’s determinations against SEB and OMI victims are clear evidence of this. And talking of SEB, Abbey’s “Senior Wealth Manager” Iwan Thomas (with no evidence of any qualifications) is ex SEB.

    Abbey Wealth – will they altar their insurance bond salesmen’s approach to “wealth management”?

    The comment on the Olive Press article by “Chas” does indeed raise the essential issue of due diligence. DD isn’t hard – it is just a question of knowing the questions to ask and understanding the answers. Finding out about regulation (license) is easy – you just start with the firm’s own website. The licensing bit is usually at the bottom on the website. Then you look at each of the advisers and check on the CII and CISI websites to see if they are listed on the register. Then, most important of all, do a Google search.

    So here’s a prime example: QROPS provider STM is now trying to force members to use an IoM advisory firm called Creechurch Capital. STM is headed up by Alan Kentish (below) who is no stranger to handcuffs himself, and has a penchant for working with scammers.

    A quick Google search reveals that a “whistleblower” had exposed Creechurch for falsifying client records. If you would still want to have this firm as your financial adviser, consider that it is based in the Isle of Man (where many scammers, and Old Mutual International, are based). The Isle of Man has a rubbish regulator and ombudsman and – like Ireland and Gibraltar – seems to positively encourage scams and scammers and treat victims as irrelevant.

    You can tell a lot about a firm by the pictures on their website. In the case of Creechurch Capital, it is a bottle of wine. Does that suggest a client would need to be drunk to use Creechurch? Drunk or sober, any potential client should check out the people behind the firm.

    Managing Director Jim Dolan claims to be qualified with the Chartered Institute of Securities and Insurance. And indeed he shows up on the CISI register as being Chartered FCSI – only not with Creechurch but with a firm in London called Sentient Capital. Nothing particularly suspicious about that, I suppose, but how can a person be Managing Director of two firms simultaneously? (I thought it was only women who can multi-task).

    Miles Ashworth, Creechurch’s Head of Private Wealth, appears on the CISI register as claimed. And the rest of the senior management team seem to be a reasonable bunch. Also, the company was sold to Nayyar Group in March 2019. So somebody must have done their due diligence on the firm and paid good money for it.

    But the question remains: why would a decent bunch of qualified and experienced financial services professionals be seen dead working on the Isle of Man along with so many dodgy, unregulated fund houses such as Blackmore Group and rogue life offices like Old Mutual International and Friends Provident?

    And, even more important, why on earth would the guys at Creechurch want to be associated with STM? Don’t they know that STM has a history of working with scammers and that they facilitated the Trafalgar Multi-Asset Fund scam by investing all 400 victims’ pensions in XXXX XXXX’s own fund?

    So back to the real World: rugby; Brexit; Halloween and the end of the decade looming. It really has been a dreadful decade for pension scams: thousands of people scammed out of £ billions. Let’s hope the scammers at Continental Wealth Management will all get hefty jail sentences and that this will force any advisory firms operating the same business model to turn away from the dark side.

    So what exactly is the “dark side”? In a nutshell:

    • Providing services without a license
    • Having unqualified “advisers”
    • Mis-using insurance bonds (purely for the commissions)
    • Putting low-risk investors in high-risk investments (purely for the commissions)

    HAPPY HALLOWEEN TO ALL!

    (don’t let the Dark Side get you!)

  • Money First – World First

    Money First – World First

    When I grow up, I want to be a hairdresser. Not a care in the World other than how short/long/blonde/purple/curly/straight my clients want their Barnets. And nothing to talk about other than where they will go on holiday: Torremolinos, Benidorm or Amsterdam (wink wink…).

    World First – so boring you’ll never lose any money using it.

    But for now, I’m stuck in the real World – the one where all I see is scams from morning ’til night. All my clients are heartbroken, worried sick, traumatised and devastated. Few of them can afford holidays – much less frequent trips to the hairdresser.

    I am regularly asked whether I can recommend a financial adviser. Not just any financial adviser – but one with a magic wand who can somehow rescue whatever is left after a greedy scammer has destroyed most of their victims’ life savings. Bearing in mind most offshore advisers are still stuck in the offshore bond-of-death rut (Old Mutual, RL360, Friends Provident etc.), I rarely make recommendations.

    There are a few financial institutions that people can’t live without: bank; insurer; pension provider; mortgage lender and credit card issuer. Then a few more that make life smoother: currency exchanger; tax adviser; financial adviser.

    I can make some recommendations about the first batch. My bank – CaixaBank – is the one I recommend because it is the one closest to my house (takes me 90 seconds to walk there). It is next to the barber and opposite the fruit shop – so couldn’t be handier. I also get my insurance, pension and plastic there – so no need ever to go anywhere else.

    I used to be a tax adviser so tend to do tax stuff myself, and don’t need a financial adviser because in Spain banks tend to do a pretty good job with money. Most people in Spain who escape the clutches of the chiringuitos (scammers) just tend to use their trusted – or nearest – bank. (In fact, the Spanish look on with astonishment at the British expats who get regularly scammed by British expats – and wonder why Brits don’t just use properly-regulated and qualified Spanish advisers).

    The only money thing I contract out is currency transfer. And for this I use a company called World First – and have done for ten years. Don’t get me wrong – this isn’t an advert. But if World First chose to send me a “thank you” for this blog in the shape of a large box of chocolates I would be unashamedly delighted.

    Chocolates gratefully received from World First!

    So what do I like about World First? Well, er, nothing – actually. It is really boring. It does what it says on the tin: currency transfers. It charges what it says it will charge (also in big letters on the tin). It is as transparent as it is dull. When I move Sterling from my UK bank and get Euros in my Spanish bank, I get the right amount. To the penny (or, rather, cent). On time. No dramas.

    There are no frills. Nothing exciting ever happens. No nasty surprises – but no nice ones either. I’m never promised three for the price of two, or that I will lose a stone in a week, or that I will meet my handsome prince and live happily ever after. But most important of all, I am never promised a “guaranteed 8% return”.

    This magic 8% carrot has been the downfall of thousands of scam victims and is drearily predictable: Ark, Capita Oak, Henley, London Quantum, Continental Wealth, dozens of unqualified/unregulated scams and scammers, all promised 8%. In fact, so routine is the 8% guarantee scam, that it almost guarantees 100% destruction of the original fund. Paul Lewis recently published a rather good blog on the subject.

    Paul has listed some of the recent scams which have destroyed thousands of victims’ savings by promising the magic 8% bait: Mederco; London Capital & Finance; HAB. There are, of course, dozens more such as Axiom Legal Financing, Premier New Earth, various student accommodation and nursing home funds, car parks, store pods and derelict German sheds. Plus thousands of toxic structured notes like those provided by Commerzbank, Royal Bank of Canada, Nomura and Leonteq – and distributed by the bond-of-death providers themselves: Old Mutual International, Friends Provident International, RL360, SEB, Generali, Hansard etc. And sold by unscrupulous “advisers”.

    All this does beg the question: why does an FCA-regulated company such as World First never cross the line – while so many others are happy and eager to do so regularly? What is it about a boring old currency transfer service that sets it apart from “advisers” who routinely sign off DB pension transfers or who openly provide regulated services without being regulated?

    We know from the British Steel debacle that out and out scams can easily be perpetrated right under the very nose of the FCA – with Active Wealth and Celtic Wealth having earned fortunes out of flogging collapsible flats in Cape Verde to the steelworkers for their pension investents. We know that Gerard Associates openly aided and abetted serial scammer Stephen Ward in the London Quantum scam – investing victims’ pension funds in all sorts of crap such as Dolphin and eucalyptus forests. (Gary Barlow’s Gerard Associates is still on the FCA register btw!).

    More recently we know that the FCA deliberately turned a blind eye to the obvious investment scam London Capital & Finance, and that Hargreaves Lansdown was openly and brazenly promoting Neil Woodford’s high-risk and illiquid Woodford Equity and Income fund (now suspended). It is public knowledge that the FCA’s obscenely overpaid chief Andrew Bailey has long since lost interest in the boring task of regulating as he only has eyes for the top spot at the Bank of England (God help us!).

    I think the answer is that the rogue, greedy, irresponsible firms who flout the regulations see an eye-watering opportunity to make a lot of money. So caution is not just thrown to the winds but also flushed down the loo. The golden opportunity won’t last long, but these opportunists don’t care how many people get ruined in the process – they will just make hay while the sun shines and then shrug their shoulders when it all goes tits up. After all, what is the worst that will happen? The FCA might rummage around in someone’s drawers and find a wet fish; or someone at ministry level might get cross enough to wag a finger or two.

    A fund manager once said to me that he was astonished at how many financial services professionals get involved in scams and dodgy schemes. He said that this is an industry where practitioners can make a very respectable living, and keep their reputation and conscience intact. He also speculated that the huge pile of money that could be made from opportunistic bad practice (naked euphemism!) is only ever short term – and that it is bound to come crashing down eventually. And then, if the offender wants to keep trading, they have to start all over again with the next gig. And the next. And….(etc). They know that the regulators and the police are way too slow, lazy and stupid to do anything about it all – so it is a fertile hunting ground for the unscrupulous and inventive.

    So back to my World: my only two financial services providers are CaixaBank and World First. Both pretty boring and predictable. Day in day out; year in year out – they do what they say they will do and charge me the standard rate for the privilege of routinely boring the pants off me. I know I will never be rich – and my life will never be exciting. But I also know I will never be either penniless or surprised (unless a fat box of chocolates rocks up next week!).

    Boring pays

    Being boring and straight does pay off. Chinese giant Alibaba recently bought a 40% stake in World First for a figure reported to be around $700m. Watch and learn ye scammers, opportunists and greedy bad guys.