SVS Securities - shut down?

My2penneth

My wife has just received an email from ITI.


We understand a number of SVS clients may have experienced a variety of technical issues as part of the client registration process. We would like to assure you, that we are working diligently to ensure each of these issues are resolved. In addition, there are a small group of clients who are yet to receive the initial onboarding communication from us. We would like to assure you, that your assets and money have been transferred to ITI Capital and are secure.
We are committed to having all of these issues resolved as soon as possible and expect to have a resolution in the next 24 to 48 hours.
 
We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience this may have caused you and hope to be able to provide you with the level of service our existing clients expect from us.

My2penneth

It's a small number of clients who have not got access...maybe this small number has found their way to this website and it is us only.?...somehow, I don't quite believe them!

Sheris

leonde said:

@Silly_Donkey no, that certainly is of interest to me, even though that aspect didn't directly affect me although not having access to my assets in the last year is likely to have caused me some financial loss. Sounds utterly dodgy.

Same with myself, had no problems with SVS for eight years, opened a account after watching a certain money programme, that recommended SVS, funny its now has this forum, FCA where fully aware of problems in 2018 of the sitiution and aloud SVS to contiune business untill August 2019

Standard_Goose

Hi All,

I'm new here and guess what... Yes, i'm having issues with ITI. Found the email in my junk folder on the 23rd at about 6pm and went straight to log in. They had spelt my name wrong (which i couldn't change of course) so i emailed them. No response, but when i tried to log in again today my name was spelt correctly (an email saying 'Problem sorted' would have sufficed!). I completed the empty bits of the forms, and now i'm stuck on the screen below:

Anyone know if this ever changes? The stuff written on the page seems to contradict other stuff written on the page and no, i have not yet been asked or attempted to upload any documents.

If ITI entered into this deal to get some new customers they're going about it a funny way. I feel like such an idiot for thinking i would have control of my assets again within a few days of the 22nd.

Jools2001

BSS said:

I have stil not received my login details. Is anyone else in this position?

Me and missus had a normal trading and isa account each!
My trading details arrived Thursday, hers didnt arrive till yesterday!

We both have had NOTHING for our ISA investments!!!!
What a pile of Sh%%te this new firm is turning out to be,absolute shambles,
No response from my e ma,sent to them il last Thursday,about setting up my account queries,
impossible to get hold of anybody from ITCAPITAL, So dreading going thru the set up process for my trading account
and then having to do it all again for my missus, and then all over twice again, when the isa logins FINALLY turn up!!

Sheris

Silly_Donkey said:

On the fraud topic, is it true that SVS has been cleared of fraud? They seem to have been involved in some very dodgy sales of Carbon Credits alongside Deutsche Bank which was part of a major European fraud at the time, and it's possible that there is still an ongoing court case. I don't know the outcome, and SVS say they were innocent parties, but you might like to read this (the part SVS played comes in about halfway down):
https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2019-05-07/how-major-banks-turned-a-blind-eye-to-the-theft-of-billions-of-pounds-of-public-money
I think that it's possible they ended up with a hefty fine for not doing due diligence, which maybe also brought them closer to the deeper attentions of the FCA.  
My understanding is that the FCA eventually stopped SVS from doing new business after finding that it had very questionable commission arrangements for promoting high-risk bonds to retail investors who didn't know what they were getting led into, and who certainly were not wanting to be taking such risks, and lastly SVS could also not explain how it valued illiquid assets. There are various articles out there on the web if you dig a little which show what they were doing with those investments. Here's an excerpt of one:
"But for three of its model portfolios, SVS chose an investment that eventually made up more than half the assets in each of them: Ireland-listed bonds issued by a company called Corporate Finance Bonds Ltd (CFBL).
Owned by a self-styled “insight architect”, CFBL had only two employees in its 2018 financial year, one of whom was the owner Stuart Anderson. CFBL’s bonds were designed to fund secured loans to small and medium-sized companies, but according to the FCA, SVS had little detail on what those loans were or even if they were to affiliates of CFBL.

Rather than cut the exposure of the model portfolios to the bonds after the FCA’s 2018 intervention, SVS instead increased it. Demetrios Christos Hadjigeorgiou, SVS’s boss, told the FCA he thought the bonds were some of the strongest performing parts of the model portfolios. The watchdog was not convinced. In official parlance, the FCA “does not consider this assessment to be supported by evidence. What the FCA did find was evidence of some racy fees, commissions and charges. Customers who did a pensions transfer or switch could find their investment pot depleted by more than a fifth in the process."

Hi,
Good bit of homework from yourself, yes the FCA stopped SVS from carring on business and they forced them into administration.   

CameronRiley

Still nothing from (sh)ITI.   Can anyone let me know if I can tell LC that I don't want my assets managed by ITI?  I have had a HL account anyway for the last two years and would prefer everything to be transferred directly to them.

energymatt

CameronRiley said:

Still nothing from (sh)ITI.   Can anyone let me know if I can tell LC that I don't want my assets managed by ITI?  I have had a HL account anyway for the last two years and would prefer everything to be transferred directly to them.

That's ideal, but I think we have to move it to ITI and then onto HL, but I am not sure.

I have set-up my account with ITI, but its a single account and still no recognition of being an ISA. I have filled the ISA transfer forms in with HL and am going to post them off tonight

Was going to set my wife's up and follow the same process, but am sat here wondering whether it would be better to not accept then transfer and that might speed up the move to HL?

Eastneuk

Cameron.  That sounds a great idea.  Your stocks and shares are already with ITI. You now ask them to transfer them back to LC.  Ok says ITI, we will do it after we have fixed the current problems and then dealt with queries from clients who might want to stay. If you’re lucky you might see them in another 3 months.  Oh and you will also have to pay any further fees LC might Incur with dealing with you as an individual. Remember that the FSCS has paid the bill to have your shares transferred to ITI and any other costs will be for your account. 

ronkswood

CameronRileyCameronRiley said:

Still nothing from (sh)ITI.   Can anyone let me know if I can tell LC that I don't want my assets managed by ITI?  I have had a HL account anyway for the last two years and would prefer everything to be transferred directly to them.

You can request a Reverse Transfer back to SVS/LC but you then have to arrange with LC for an alternative distribution arrangement. Or you can just give HL your ITI account number and details and they will arrange a transfer