I don’t often disagree with highly-regarded pensions expert Henry Tapper. Too much respect and awe. But his recent blog: “The Balls of Old Bailey” merits a polite argument. It has made me cross – not cross with Henry, per se. But cross with the failure of Britain’s culture, government, regulation and legal system to address …
It seems as though criminal convictions against pension scammers might be getting popular. More than a decade has gone by with virtually none of the usual suspects getting jailed – despite a few criminal investigations (that, so far, have not resulted in convictions). Is the system really that hopeless or do these criminals just know …
Every offshore pension scam starts with a “financial advisor”. Or, at least, a slick salesman posing as a financial adviser. This person can also call himself a “wealth consultant” or “senior associate”. After the scammer pretending to be an adviser, the next player is the life office. More accurately described as a “death” office, this …
At the end of January 2022, Boris Johnson claimed he had reduced crime by 14%. Boris shocked a lot of people with this figure. But, apparently, he wasn’t talking about fraud. He’d forgotten that even some of his own constituents had been defrauded into the Ark pension scam (and that he had promised to “sort …
2021 was a tough year for everybody in the world. But for Pension Life it was especially frustrating because courts and law firms were severely held up as they got to grips with the challenges of Covid, travel restrictions and working remotely. Attending hearings and meetings by video conference was a hit-or-miss affair. The success …
The world of pension and investment scams is dominated and driven by commissions on investments (usually unregulated). The scammers’ strategy is always identical: get the pensions away from the safety of a reputable pension provider and into the hands of a SIPP, a SSAS or a QROPS. One purported benefit of these types of schemes …
haps “the end” will be just the beginning. A new dawn for an offshore financial services industry which sells proper financial advice – and not just commission-laden products.
The FCA seems to have woken up. It only took eleven years. Eleven years of laziness, torpor, disinterest and deliberately ignoring the problem. But, completely out of the blue, the FCA has suddenly got bored with crapping on bathroom floors and has decided to do a spot of rather belated regulating. The object of this …
Utmost (formerly Generali) is proposing buying Quilter (formerly Old Mutual). The deal is due to be completed by December 2021. The agreed price is nearly half a billion pounds. It is reported that Margrethe Vestager, Vice President of the European Commission, has “approved” this acquisition. The “approval” by the European Commission of this deal is …
Brev at Bond Review has been doing the FCA’s job for it for more than four years. He (or she) has warned the public on the excellent Bond Review blog about the dangers of investment scams in the form of “bonds”. While the FCA have sat around doing little of any use – except keeping …
The following blog was written by Stephen Sefton: a Blackmore Global Victim who cares about pension scams. Stephen was scammed by David Vilka of Square Mile International Financial Services around six or seven years ago. Vilka, who had neither qualifications nor a license to provide pension or investment advice, arranged the transfer of Mr. Sefton’s …
Pension scams have been destroying lives for more than a decade. The scammers cause poverty, marriage breakdowns and even death. Death caused by stress-related illness. And death by suicide. A typical pension scam involves an unlicensed person pretending to be a financial adviser. This is illegal. But it goes on all the time, in the …
Who cares about Careys and the world of pension scams? Read More »
