London Capital & Finance

Malthusian

A long-standing member of 13 years posting, an experienced IFA and one of the most prolific and helpful contributors to the Savings & Investments and Pensions & Retirement Planning forums, was recently banned for something he posted in this long-running thread about London Capital & Finance. We do not know exactly what and to date MSE has not told us.

The company is controversial because it advertises ultra-high-risk unregulated minibonds in a manner that attracts people searching for minimal-risk regulated fixed-rate deposits, mainly via Google Adwords and the mainstream press. Over the last few years numerous first-time posters have asked the Savings & Investments Forum for guidance over whether they should invest in such bonds. The response from the forum is virtually always "no" - at least as far as responses from established posters goes.

Knowing that one of the Savings & Investment forum's longest-standing members has been banned for posting negative material about this company has a chilling effect on the rest of us. We are frequently asked for guidance about this company and similar companies - at times there are several such posts a week. We are unable to help new members if we do not know whether posting negative opinion about these companies will result in us being permanently banned without explanation.

Please can you therefore let us know what exactly we can and cannot say about London Capital & Finance and other providers of unregulated minibonds.

Reaper

Please could you also re-instate Dunstonh. If his posts crossed a line then by all means delete them, but don't ban him. He has been a member for 13 years, made 90,000 posts and been thanked 55,000 times - and those are proper thanks from the financial boards not the Money Saver Arms!

He is one of the most helpful posters on the whole forum and has spent a great deal of time teaching us novices the ins and outs of pensions and investments.

I don't know why he got banned, but please invite him back. The boards are a poorer place without him.

EDIT: More info in post 37 below

kidmugsy

Reaper wrote: »

The boards are a poorer place without him.

They certainly are. Bring back dunstonh!!

Linton

Another vote to bring back Dunstonh. I like many other people have learned a lot from his many posts. It would be a tragedy if the opportunity MSE provided for honest, well informed assistance for people trying to cope with the complex financial decisions we now have to make was sacrificed. Sacrificed for what? Does the world need another bland advertising platform?

cloud_dog

I feel MSE either need to confirm what, specifically, caused Duntonh being banned or reinstate him. It would be nice to have some clear, open, and transparent communication from MSE on the subject.

Occasionally I didn't agree with his posts but always appreciated his efforts and contributions, and he specifically (together with a couple of other reliable posters) assisted me with pension related matters I knew little about.

The MSE forum is a poorer place without him. The ethos of MSE is poorer without him (I'm obviously ignoring the fact that MSE is owned by a company that is now only interested in the money it can gleam from MSE).

frankie

I think its disgraceful that Dunstonh has been banned. I have always found his posts to be informative even if I did'nt always agree with them.

MSE bring back this prolific and useful poster, give Dunstonh another chance.

bugslet

It's appalling. Dunstonh , besides being knowledgeable and generous with his time, was also well mannered and patient. Which can't be said for everyone.

Mnd

Perhaps he could start his own blog, and help us all as he has in the past

verybigchris

I've just clicked on the Savings and Investments board. The first page alone has 4 separate threads about unregulated investment [STRIKE]scams[/STRIKE] schemes. This is a huge problem area, and quite possibly the number one reason for new members to post on that board.

MSE should seriously consider the approach they take to these threads, and whether their moderation (however well intentioned it may be) is going to cause more people to become victims.

silvercar

verybigchris wrote: »

I've just clicked on the Savings and Investments board. The first page alone has 4 separate threads about unregulated investment [STRIKE]scams[/STRIKE] schemes. This is a huge problem area, and quite possibly the number one reason for new members to post on that board.

MSE should seriously consider the approach they take to these threads, and whether their moderation (however well intentioned it may be) is going to cause more people to become victims.

MSE doesn't moderate the forum, the task would take up too much resource.

verybigchris

silvercar wrote: »

MSE doesn't moderate the forum, the task would take up too much resource.

They may not do the day-to-day admin, but the forum strategy is overseen by MSE's Editor-in-Chief and is covered by their Editorial Code. It specifically states that:

MoneySavingExpert.com's forum shall continue to be operated in a manner consistent with current practice for the benefit of "helping the consumer" first.

The best way to help the consumer in this area would be to publicly clarify how we can warn users about the risks of unregulated investments without falling foul of the forum team.