Beaufort Securities

xylophone

Wouldn!!!8217;t this be covered by the £50k FSCS protection for investments?

https://www.which.co.uk/news/2018/03/beaufort-securities-goes-bust-what-are-your-rights/

dunstonh

tg99 wrote: »

Wouldn’t this be covered by the £50k FSCS protection for investments?

FSCS covers regulated investments only. It can also apply if a regulated firm (that no longer exists) gave the advice and the advice was considered unsuitable.

I know little about Beaufort Securities and whether it is regulated or unregulated.

lozzy1965

I have a very small amount of money invested with BS, in a single share. So, does the value of this share, in their nominee account, count as 'money invested with the firm'? Or will I get my shares at some point in the future?

Malthusian

lozzy1965 wrote: »

I have a very small amount of money invested with BS, in a single share. So, does the value of this share, in their nominee account, count as 'money invested with the firm'? Or will I get my shares at some point in the future?

Which share?

In theory your shares are ringfenced from Beaufort Securities' own money. In due course your shares will either be transferred to an alternative nominee, or transferred directly to you.

You should only be exposed to loss if Beaufort Securities had not in fact held shares on your behalf, but fraudulently taken your money and done something else with it.

The reason I ask "which share" is because many BS investors held dodgy unregulated investments which are worthless for reasons unconnected to the BS liquidation.

jamei305

I wondered why I got an email from them the other day saying I had a new secure message. Thought it was spam but looked them up and saw they used to trade as Hoodless Brennan, a stockbroker who used to be recommended on here for their low fees and who I opened an account with about ten years ago. Pretty sure I got every last penny out before they ceased that service in 2009.

woolly_wombat

AnotherJoe wrote: »

Thats behind a paywall.

Just search for "PwC scrambles to return assets to Beaufort investors" and when you click on the FT article you should be able to read it.

If it doesn't work the first time then delete your cookies and try again.

There's no need to pay for an expensive subscription if you only want to access the FT website occasionally.

Col_Jessop

In a slightly different position from the originating poster. I just had an online sharedealing account with Beaufort. I actually contacted the FCA, FO and FSCS last year when the FCA put out a notice about them. All reassured me that my money was safe and that Beaufort were regulated. Beaufort lied that the issue was down to them revamping their IT system. It was enough reassurance from the protective bodies for me to leave the account live.
Email through from PWC telling us about the insolvency enacted by the FCA. They gave a PWC helpline. It is actually answered by the pathological liars at Beaufort Securities. And they lied. It took quite a bit of effort to speak with PWC directly.
It looks like there is still a reasonable chance that Beaufort do not hold enough shares to match the shares held in customer accounts. So it might not be quite as simple as them transferring the share to another broker. PWC will also be taking a share of whatever is salvagable. So even if all your shares are covered there will be a loss interms of PWCs costs for managing the insolvency.
The Financial Ombudsman is powerless as Beaufort are insolvent and no longer regulated. Basically they can;t fine an insolvent company so won't take any new complaints.
The FSCS still have no process in place and no information to provide to Beaufort / FCA's victims. I have conflicting information that the FSCS will notify the victims once they have information from the FCA / PWC; and that it is up to the victims to complete a claim form - the form is irrelevant to the current situation.
The FCA are demonstrating their typical contempt towards the victims of Beaufort. No information in relation to what people should do other than call a helpline that has Beaufort staff pouring more lies onto an already flaming bonfire of customers cash.
Basically, this looks like a rudderless shambles with the victims being offered no support / information until the FCA has covered its own backside. Why did the FCA have to be forced into action by a foreign country when the majority of Beaufort's customers are UK citizens? Why if they palnned to make Beaufort insolvent did they not have a process in place that would provide reassurance to the victims?
I really feel for the victims who are potentially far more exposed financially than me by this. I am reading stories of hundreds and potentially thousands of people losing significant and perhaps all of their retirement funds. The FCA and FSCS really need to get their act together on this and start provide clear and consistent advice to the victims.
I wouldn't bother raising compliants by telephone or wasting your time with the Beaufort helpline. best to raise you complaint by email / letter to the FCA / PWC / FSCS at the highest level. If you need email alises for c-level staff at these orgs drop me a PM and I will provide.

Malthusian

Col_Jessop wrote: »

All reassured me that my money was safe and that Beaufort were regulated.

I am quite surprised that even one of the above organisations was incautious enough to be that explicit, let alone all three.

Col_Jessop

Malthusian wrote: »

I am quite surprised that even one of the above organisations was incautious enough to be that explicit, let alone all three.

FCA notice - contacted FCA. Was told that Beaufort were still regulated and that the stop on trading was temporary until they sorted out the issue. I was also told that I could raise concerns with the Financial Ombudsman. - gave them a call to verify - Beaufort regulated, money safe - could raise complaint through them if anything went wrong. They also confirmed that in the unlikley event of losses being incurred I would be covered up to £50K by the FSCS. Called FSCS to confirm. Again told Beaufort regulated so money not at risk.
Now none of the organisation will confirm that my money is not at risk.
FCA, DoJ, FBI were allegedly investigating Beaufort for fraud at that time going by the press releases.

The FCA, Financial Ombudsman and FSCS leave their front line staff with stock answers to questions. They rarely provide the lublic facing staff with any helpful information that is dependable. Hence my advice to contact these agencies in writing. You will likely get a response to useless links on the website, but at least you will have a reference for your complaint and formal notification that you are are a victim of Beaufort / FCA should it be requireed futher down the line. At the moment no agency and certianly not PWC are encouraging written claims / enquiries. They guide you to the telephone helpine manned by the pathological liars at Beaufort.

My advice to any victim is get yourself known in writing to all three agencies and PWC. If they are refusing to confirm that you will recover all of your cash then you should be concerned and should have written evidence that you have informed them of your concerns and require to be contacted directly when a formal process for recovering losses is available.

PWC waited two weeks to advise people of the insolvency. Best to get off the back foot on this one and ensure you are in the process.

mur104

Hi my husband transferred his pension to Beaufort Securities on the advice of a financial adviser, who strangely went into liquidation after this all kicked off.

I checked everything out with the FCA before we went ahead and was told that they were all regulated, money protected etc. I raised concerns with the FCA in November 2016, but they were at best useless. A complaint went into the Financial Ombudsman in April 2017, they did not start looking at our complaint until December 2017 and phoned us in April 2018, to say as Beaufort is now in liquidation there is nothing they can do.

I am so angry that the directors of both Beaufort Securities and the financial adviser seem to just walk away from this. We now have a list of where our monies were invested (this was a managed SIPP and therefore we didn't have any say) & a three year old could have made better choices, We asked for a low risk investment and yet have now been advised that it is all high risk. I think the directors should be made to sell all their assets and pay the money back,
rant over:(