The Financial Conduct Authority said on 6 February it had written to investors who complained about the way it handled the Blackmore Bonds case, setting out why it rejected the claims but agreeing to pay them compensation for its slow response.
Blackmore Bond PLC (Blackmore) was an unregulated firm that raised funds by issuing mini-bonds. Two regulated firms, NCM Fund Services (NCM) and Northern Provident Investments (NPI), approved the financial promotions for the mini-bonds.
The FCA conducted thorough enforcement investigations into NCM and NPI and decided that the financial promotions were largely accurate and contained very relevant risk warnings to consumers, so it did not take enforcement action against either firm.
Complainants have raised a number of different issues about the FCA’s action surrounding Blackmore – including that the FCA failed to act following warnings about the firm, failed to protect investors and allowed misleading marketing.
Investors asked the FCA to pay compensation and start a criminal investigation into Blackmore.
The FCA said in the statement that it "has carefully considered the complaints and decided not to uphold them. The FCA never had any supervisory oversight of Blackmore, handled intelligence received about the firm appropriately and found previously that the financial promotions were largely accurate and contained relevant risk warnings".
The FCA will make a payment of between £150 and £250 to each complainant in recognition of how long it took to respond to the complaints.
