SVS Securities - shut down?

johnburman

I am pleased that people are contacting the FCA.  Even more pleased that ITI are starting to take matters seriously. reading "...with a grovelling explanation that they are having to deal with thousands of withdrawal requests, supposedly a BACS transfer was instigated yesterday." 

There is clearly something VERY wrong at ITI or with their systems.  As I - and others -  have said they have had literally months to prepare for/sort out this transfer, and it is a complete shambles.  But they are a small specialised broker, with limited (and not enough) staff.

I want out.  But their service was always different from SVs and their charges were always going to be higher than SVS and so they must have expected a large number of 'leavers.'  So how come that they can't cope?  What did they expect - cash balances are wrong; you can't trade; they don't answer the 'phone, but the one good thing is that (if you can get to the right bit of their website) the lines of stock are accurate (well not the pricing, the quantity of stock).

We need to ask th FCA to ensure that the transfers out are dealt with quickly or else automatic compensation is offered.

pafpcg

pafpcg said:

At last!  A response from ITI a few hours short of exactly seven days since I submitted my closure request using the "non-boarding" transfer-straight-out procedure.  Unfortunately, the message, received by email and in the Support Centre list of tickets, doesn't say how I can proceed! 

Here's the Support Centre ticket:
Date: 11 Aug 2020   
Type: Request    
Category: Closure/ Withdrawal Details Submitted (Doc Based KYC)    
Status: Details Required    
Remarks: Kindly complete the withdrawal application along with providing a photo ID and a recent bank statement.    

So where is this withdrawal application form and how do I submit it?  Can anyone help?

Updating my own query about the transfer-straight-out procedure:  I just needed to have more patience!

When I logged-in this morning, the ITI system had updated overnight and automatically directed me to the "Submit Closure" procedure, asking for details of the bank account for cash funds and new broker for securities which were automatically loaded into a PDF which I could download, sign and re-scan to be uploaded with identity documents.

My ITI account is now a true "black box" - when I log-in now it just says "Closure in progress" - no cash balance or holdings.

Monsieur_Bourse

I have e-mailed the FCA laying out my concerns with the ongoing shambles, as stated on the forum I think the more people that raise their concerns with the FCA the better. I am not sure if there is anything they can do at this juncture, but at least it is worth a shot.

I also e-mailed Leonard Curtis enquiring as to why they have not issued any update since the 3rd August, I did not receive an automated response saying they have received the e-mail, so perhaps they have given up as well!

My2penneth

FCA 0800 111 6768
The 2 people I phoned at the FCA were both helpful. Worth a call to register and ask for a call reference.

My2penneth

Well, my COMPLAINT has been sent to Mr Moss.... 

Dear Mr Moss,

I have been given your contact email by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The concerns that I have relate to the transfer of assets from SVS retail to ITI Capital.

 

1. The length of time that the process is taking - the expectation was that our accounts would be active by July 23rd.

 

2. Extremely limited communication and help from ITI Capital - information on the ITI website out of date.

 

3. Unable to contact people at ITI Capital other than by deliberately selecting options to contact a broker. Voicemail messages not answered, tickets not answered.

 

4. Accounts on boarded in wrong currencies (I held over $800K dollars of Vodafone at one stage - they were marked as ADRs !).

 

5. Some share assets shown as zero value (share prices marked as zero for some FTSE100 companies)

 

6. No visibility of how long the actual process of "on-boarding to being able to trade" will take. Most SVS clients believed that once on boarded, they would be able to buy/sell.

 

7. No explanation of the process leading to the ability to buy and sell shares.

 

8. No visibility of dividends received (from where, when, amount)

 

 9. Accounts not marked as ISA when clients know that their accounts were ISAs

 

10. What is Phoenix (we know now) and how will shares and cash be migrated.

 

11. Filling in forms and emailing them to ITI capital to withdraw cash...??

 

 

 

ITI Capital could have avoided a lot of these problems with a simple 1 or 2 page guidance to explain the process. The reputational damage to ITI Capital must be quite high based on comments

 

that one can view on MoneySavingExpert and The Lemon Fool forums (some of which are authors for The Motley Fool UK). 

 

 

I believe that not only have ITI Capital given themselves a headache during the on-boarding process, there will be continued frustration as people seek to transfer their accounts out of

 

ITI Capital ...the concern is that ITI Capital will not have resources to transfer clients accounts within the 30 day requirement.

 

johnburman

Excellent letter of complaint 

9406824

Just bought some shares through ITI dealing line.
He tried to charge £27.95 but when I explained problems I was having and was an ex SVS customer he did it for £7.95 plus stamp.

anyone looking to clean up their is ISA’s before transferring out this is the way to do it.

shawdon

Managed to withdraw my cash from 8 of my 10 accounts after filling in lots of forms and waiting over a week but my cash holding in my portfolio summary is still showing as the same figure as before which is very odd. Now waiting like most others for my new proper broker, HL, to get ITI to agree to transfer the shares which may take many weeks. Has anyone holding Vodafone shares actually managed to get the dividend added to their accounts, mine are all missing despite the payment date of the 7th August?

My2penneth

@shawdon
I have visibility of 4 accounts. I have withdrawn funds on 2 of them and bought shares with funds in a third account.  One account seems correct ( funds gone), the other two show the funds still there...

I can not tell what divis have been received. I too was expecting VOD to arrive. It is not visible in the on boarding accounts.  I have noticed that the fund  balance changes but there is no record that I can see to say why. 

My2penneth

If you wish to complain ...here's an email address and name
David Moss Head of Compliance . 
compliance@iticapital.com