SVS Securities - shut down?

grnglide

Your existing ISA holdings with SVS - if they are transferred are very likely to keep their ISA status -

When FSCS paid up for the Icesave failure they paid by cheque (I think) and provided a certificate to present to a new provider certifying that the money was already in an ISA.


That worked fine but it was cash ISAs rather than S&S ISAs.

Alexland

Chasweekly wrote: »

I realize most on here will think me pretty stupid for not checking my SVS account was ok, immediately prior to making the payment. I hold my hands up to that.

Don't beat yourself up - it's not normal to check your provider is solvent before each payment.

masonic

Chasweekly wrote: »

The administration was actioned at 12.25pm on Monday according to the website, so why was my payment been accepted 6 hours later? Should it not have bounced? And, where is my £600 sitting now? Advice appreciated!

It is probably sitting in the receiving account at SVS. It will take some time for the administrators to gain full control over the accounts and systems used by SVS. It is likely they will return any payments sent after the shutters were pulled down, but it is possible the payment was automatically credited to your trading account and will be added to the other assets held in trust for you.

My2penneth

Chasweekly wrote: »

Thanks to all for very informative thread. I have a slightly different issue I would like to air ...

On Monday 5th at around 6.30pm, unaware of the dramas that had taken place at SVS earlier in the day, I made a faster BACS transfer of £600 into my dealing account with the intention of buying some shares next day. On logging on next day I found that SVS had been put into special administration and it was not possible to log into my account. On checking my bank account I found that the transfer had not bounced. In fact it has still not been returned. So I am not sure where this money is.


I have spoken face to face with someone at my bank who said they were unable to retrieve the money. If not returned within an hour or two money can be assumed to hit the target account. The bank employee has however made a full record of the problem and I have full details of the transaction.

Now, I realize most on here will think me pretty stupid for not checking my SVS account was ok, immediately prior to making the payment. I hold my hands up to that. Usually I would check but this time for some reason I neglected to do so – sod’s law, very bad timing!

The administration was actioned at 12.25pm on Monday according to the website, so why was my payment been accepted 6 hours later? Should it not have bounced? And, where is my £600 sitting now? Advice appreciated!

It would be nice if Leonard Curtis gave the private investors READ ONLY access to their accounts. At least we could check share holdings and cash levels.

If your money isn't bounced back in the next day, then it is probably "in limbo" but linked to your account..festering!

SVS staff were sent home on Friday morning - they probably left in a huff (no doubt!) and the IT staff probably secured the system to prevent log ins to "freeze" the computer accounts (people would be tempted to try (and fail) to transfer funds out wouldn't they - if it worked then "good" - no harm in trying).

Worst case scenario is you'll end up waiting until this is all sorted.

(Were you thinking of a dabble in Burford?..just curious)

Crossy1

It's interesting what is coming out here. I had no issues with execution only share dealing service but like others I did get the phone calls and as someone else said they sounded very knowledgeable. I generally cut them off apart from once when I listened to what he had to say. I was invited to invest in a little known company, I didn't invest but decided to track the company. My decision was a wise one, within weeks of the phone call the value of the company crashed.

My2penneth

Crossy1 wrote: »

.I was invited to invest in a little known company, I didn't invest but decided to track the company. My decision was a wise one, within weeks of the phone call the value of the company crashed.

Commission banked.

masonic

My2penneth wrote: »

It would be nice if Leonard Curtis gave the private investors READ ONLY access to their accounts. At least we could check share holdings and cash levels.

Until such time as the accounts have been fully reconciled it would be a very bad move indeed as this information may not be accurate.

[Deleted User]

My2penneth wrote: »

It would be nice if Leonard Curtis gave the private investors READ ONLY access to their accounts. At least we could check share holdings and cash l)

The same issue arose in the Beaufort administration. Read Only access was denied to investors for a considerable time after the firm went into special administration. A poster on here going under the name of Col Jessop who had investments managed by Beaufort was very incensed by this.

juliamarsh

Malthusian wrote: »

I am curious as to what exactly juliamarsh succumbed to, but it is rubbernecking so I understand if she doesn't want to say.

If you scroll back to page 8 I wrote quite a lengthy comment about what happened but essentially after several years of fobbing them off, in a bitterly regretted moment of weakness I was persuaded to sign up to their advisory services, and they put me into high risk niche investments, mainly mining companies which were totally outside my agreed attitude to risk and which lost a lot of money. I know of other people they did this to as well and yes, I think the reason they have been shut down may very well be related to this. I would be very interested to find out!

Chasweekly

juliamarsh wrote: »

If you scroll back to page 8 I wrote quite a lengthy comment about what happened but essentially after several years of fobbing them off, in a bitterly regretted moment of weakness I was persuaded to sign up to their advisory services, and they put me into high risk niche investments, mainly mining companies which were totally outside my agreed attitude to risk and which lost a lot of money. I know of other people they did this to as well and yes, I think the reason they have been shut down may very well be related to this. I would be very interested to find out!

I was a client for nearly six years. At first they used to call a lot with all sorts of "wonderful" offers and opportunities - they were particularly keen for me (like juliamarsh) to sign up to their advisory services. I consistently declined as I did not like their sometimes aggressive and always patronising patter (ohI, looking at your holdings, we can do so much better for you). As someone said on here they seemed "spivvy" ..... They also tried to push a bond at 8.5% - seemed to good to be true that one and having seen what transpired there I am relieved I didn't fall for that one. In the end I simply ignored their calls.

Having said all that I did find them good for straightforward execution only dealing. I found the simple and responsive website interface suited me. This is in contrast to some sites that are awkward to navigate and overly complex. Moreover I always found things worked efficiently.

Obviously glad I didn't get sucked in deeper!