8% ISA with London Capital and Finance PLC

jimjames

bxboards wrote: »

But I can't see how you can blame the company per se for that lack of knowledge. They do display warnings that money can be lost and there is no compensation scheme protection.

I disagree. If a product is being advertised via a savings website and that site compares it to a deposit account then there is a responsibility for that to be suitable. These companies seem to have found a niche that falls between the remit of the ASA and FCA and neither want to review it. If you see this banner you would think your capital is secure. To need to read the small print details to find out otherwise is unreasonably misleading in my view.

https://damn-lies-and-statistics.blogspot.com/2018/10/london-capital-finance-loophole.html

eskbanker

bxboards wrote: »

Absolutely. But if something is out side of one's knowledge, then they can either try to learn hence this thread, people are researching which is good and finding out this isn't a good idea.

But I can't see how you can blame the company per se for that lack of knowledge. They do display warnings that money can be lost and there is no compensation scheme protection.

If people are claiming this is and out and out scam, then they need to be blunt and come out and say so, and not just edge around the subject as its not getting anywhere.

Posters do need to take care when making explicit accusations, because there's plenty of history of posts being removed after complaints from such companies, not necessarily this mob in particular though.

What rankles with many is that LC&F, despite having reasonable explanations and caveats on their website, promote themselves in a misleading way, by implying that they're a cash ISA provider. There are various Google searches that lead to sites clearly structured to look like a comparison of cash ISAs - I'm reluctant to include URLs but search for 'top isa rates' for example.

So, I do accept your point about personal responsibility but don't see it as a binary matter of either the individual or the company being responsible, i.e. it can be (and is IMHO) a bit of both....

OldMusicGuy

Anyone wanting to understand if this is a "scam" or not should read this page on the FCA site:

https://www.fca.org.uk/scamsmart/unregulated-investment-scams

As it says on that page:
Even if a regulated firm is involved, our rules generally apply only to products designed for the general public, rather than ‘niche’ investments, which may be completely unregulated.

LC&F is a regulated firm but its products (as it clearly states) are unregulated. These products, according to the FCA, are not for the "general public".

So the advertising is IMO questionable because it makes these products look like other regulated products (even though the small print clarifies the risk) and definitely seems to be aimed at the general public.

EDIT: this is the second time in a couple of days I have posted pretty much the same thing as eskbanker a few minutes after them. Hopefully this emphasizes the point that the LC&F advertising obscures the important message that these are unregulated products.

Malthusian

bxboards wrote: »

But I can't see how you can blame the company per se for that lack of knowledge.

Because they deliberately target investors who lack sufficient knowledge to invest in products suitable only for sophisticated and HNW investors. Via Facebook ads and via paying commission to unregulated introducers who use misleading websites.

If people are claiming this is and out and out scam, then they need to be blunt and come out and say so, and not just edge around the subject as its not getting anywhere.

There is no such thing as a scam. Only failed investments.

The word "scam" is used to refer to everything from fraud to overcharging to sharp advertising practice to not winning a raffle, and is therefore semantically useless.

verybigchris

eskbanker wrote: »

Posters do need to take care when making explicit accusations, because there's plenty of history of posts being removed after complaints from such companies, not necessarily this mob in particular though.

What rankles with many is that LC&F, despite having reasonable explanations and caveats on their website, promote themselves in a misleading way, by implying that they're a cash ISA provider. There are various Google searches that lead to sites clearly structured to look like a comparison of cash ISAs - I'm reluctant to include URLs but search for 'top isa rates' for example.

So, I do accept your point about personal responsibility but don't see it as a binary matter of either the individual or the company being responsible, i.e. it can be (and is IMHO) a bit of both....

Speaking of explicit accusations and for the sake of clarity, it's probably worth pointing out that those dodgy comparison sites are not run by LC&F themselves, they are run by third-party digital marketing companies.

It's anyone's guess what the precise commercial relationship is between the two, but I imagine LC&F would claim to be shocked to hear these sites were misrepresenting their products without their consent

sjl24

I have been looking at LC&F for a while.

Went on the site today, and noticed that it has FCA notices everywhere and no content.

Does anyone know what has happened?

ColdIron

Curious

• The Financial Conduct Authority has directed London Capital & Finance plc to withdraw all of its existing marketing materials in relation to LCF’s Fixed Rate ISA or Bond.

masonic

ColdIron wrote: »

Curious

• The Financial Conduct Authority has directed London Capital & Finance plc to withdraw all of its existing marketing materials in relation to LCF’s Fixed Rate ISA or Bond.

Surprising. The FCA isn't completely asleep at the watch.

sully1311

Great news.

verybigchris

Santa's real and he works for the FCA