SVS Securities - shut down?

juliamarsh

masonic wrote: »

They were considered respectable and came fairly well recommended here, some years ago. I found nothing untoward when I checked them out in 2013 and subsequently opened an account. Other than a rather annoying practice of occasionally phoning me and trying to convince me to sign up for a share tipping service, they offered a great service. I ended up closing my account in 2017, but had no issues with that or any other aspect of their service.

Take my word for it, SVS were far from respectable and it is extremely fortunate that you didn't fall for their sales patter. I fielded them off for years but - quite out of character for me and I could kick myself for being such an idiot - they eventually persuaded me to sign up for their advisory services. HUGE mistake. They sold most of my original execution only holdings and put me into high risk niche investments that were entirely inappropriate for my stated risk profile (which was reconfirmed by the broker on every occasion that we spoke). Almost all were mining companies and lost money hand over fist, unlike most of my original shares they sold, which did really well. I am by no means the only person to whom this has happened and I suspect that this is what the statement "Acting on intelligence received about the assets in which SVS invested its clients’ money, we conducted urgent supervisory work and identified serious concerns about the way in which the business was operating" refers to. It is quite right that they should be held to account, they are utterly unprofessional and unscrupulous. Fortunately my Financial Ombudsman claim against them was successful but it took nearly 2 years to obtain compensation and even after it was awarded I had to fight tooth and nail for months to get them to pay it. They presented me with a very complicated compensation calculation spreadsheet, in the hope, I believe, that I wouldn't understand it and would find it too overwhelming to check. When I did I found that all their calculations were wrong, and not in my favour - they offered me a mere 48% of what was actually due to me and what I eventually received! Luckily I am not intimidated by figures but how many other people have they got away with doing this to I wonder, who might not have been so good with numbers and found it all too complex, thereby losing out on what they were entitled to? Not sure if this was down to deceit, sheer incompetence or a mixture of the two, but even taking into account the FOS compensation I still reckon I am worse off now than I would have been had I stuck with my own original investments and I rue the day I ever signed up with them. They are not fit to be in business. :mad:

juliamarsh

Economic wrote: »

Not if you reinvest in Scottish Mortgage shares within 30 days of the sale.

Please can you clarify this? Are you saying that if one sells shares in a company and then reinvests in the same company within 30 days there are no capital gains generated? Does it have to be exactly the same number of shares that were originally sold, or the same amount of money that was raised by the sale?

System

juliamarsh wrote: »

Please can you clarify this? Are you saying that if one sells shares in a company and then reinvests in the same company within 30 days there are no capital gains generated? Does it have to be exactly the same number of shares that were originally sold, or the same amount of money that was raised by the sale?

Yes, it follows from the CGT rules to stop 'bed and breakfasting'. If the same number of shares were bought as sold then it is as if the transactions never happened.

juliamarsh

Economic wrote: »

Yes, it follows from the CGT rules to stop 'bed and breakfasting'. If the same number of shares were bought as sold then it is as if the transactions never happened.

Are you permitted to repurchase them in a different account from the one you sold them from? Am I right in thinking if you sell them from a trading account and repurchase them within an ISA that would generate a gain?

LEAR1

juliamarsh wrote: »

Take my word for it, SVS were far from respectable and it is extremely fortunate that you didn't fall for their sales patter. I fielded them off for years ...

Thanks for sharing your experience Juilamarsh - provides some insight as to what might have happened. And, by implication, could imply that it is not a mismanagement / poor reconciliation / ring-fencing clients' assets that was the issue concerning the FCA, but the advice they were giving clients like you.

While I feel for your experience and the battle you had to get your money back, I'm very pleased to hear that it was at least finally resolved - even if you're not quite in the same place as you might have been holding your original stocks.

ColdIron

juliamarsh wrote: »

Please can you clarify this? Are you saying that if one sells shares in a company and then reinvests in the same company within 30 days there are no capital gains generated?

Yes. If you want something to Google try Section 104 holdings or for a longer read ...

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/shares-and-capital-gains-tax-hs284-self-assessment-helpsheet

Does it have to be exactly the same number of shares that were originally sold, or the same amount of money that was raised by the sale?

Value but it doesn't have to be exactly the same

System

juliamarsh wrote: »

Are you permitted to repurchase them in a different account from the one you sold them from? Am I right in thinking if you sell them from a trading account and repurchase them within an ISA that would generate a gain?

If by different accounts you mean trading accounts with different brokers then yes. You are right that Bed and ISA transactions generate a gain as the taxman only sees the sale for CGT purposes.

ColdIron

juliamarsh wrote: »

Are you permitted to repurchase them in a different account from the one you sold them from?

Yes

Am I right in thinking if you sell them from a trading account and repurchase them within an ISA that would generate a gain?

Yes. It is only the disposal that counts in this case

System

ColdIron wrote: »

Value but it doesn't have to be exactly the same

For there to be no gain it would have to be the same number of shares. If the number of shares sold is 1,500 and the number of shares repurchased within 30 days is 1,000 then 500 shares have been sold leading to a possible gain.

juliamarsh

LEAR1 wrote: »

Thanks for sharing your experience Juilamarsh - provides some insight as to what might have happened. And, by implication, could imply that it is not a mismanagement / poor reconciliation / ring-fencing clients' assets that was the issue concerning the FCA, but the advice they were giving clients like you

You may very well be right - I strongly suspect this could be one of the major issues the FCA is concerned about, and rightly so. However they are so appalling that I wouldn't be at all surprised if I heard that there were issues over mismanagement/poor reconciliation/ring fencing as well. I wouldn't put anything past them to be honest! Time will tell. I intended to report them to the FCA at the time, and to the Ombudsman for the 'mistakes' in their compensation calculations and for procrastinating so long over paying up, but I was so exhausted from battling with them for so long that I never got round to it. Really wish I had now!