SVS Securities - shut down?

jenwrendorset

I am very grateful to everyone who has contributed to this forum, it has made me realise I'm not the idiot in this whole debacle.  I am copying the letter I intend to send to the FCA, and similar to the FOS, LC and my MP however I'm struggling to find any email address for the FCA - can anyone help please - a previous comment  mentioned a Ms Samantha Stewart as the Supervisor Hub with FCA but no email for her.  I'm almost losing the plot with what has been happening over the last 13 months but have taken the liberty of copying and pasting into my letter a little of what has been said before.  Our situation so far is that out of 4 accounts we have managed to get two cash withdrawals honoured and our transfer requests are with iWeb so will start chasing those after the complaint letters have been sent.  Anyway here is a copy of my letter and please can someone give me the correct email addresses for the FCA and FOS (I am going to disregard the order in which one should complain.....let's just inundate them with our letters).

"I am writing this on behalf of myself, my husband and my son but in essence please consider this as three letters of complaint.  We are part of the 20,000 or so very disgruntled ex SVS Securities clients whose assets and cash have been transferred to ITI Capital with the approval of the FCA and the FSCS.  These assets and cash were supposed to have been transferred on 23 July 2020 but it is now September and we are still unable to access our assets or even see an accurate record of our holdings on their platforms.  ITI Capital are not answering the telephone, or if answered (not by a human I hasten to add) the connection is then promptly cut off, they are ignoring emails and our attempt at submitting on-line support tickets just didn't register. We were only informed on 24 August that our joint account has yet to get past the on-boarding stage despite submitting the application form on 2 August, one of the reasons being that we hadn't completed a W-8BEN form - what's that all about ?? but perhaps that request was triggered off by the fact that all our personal information indicates that our country of residence has defaulted to being that of the United States of America.  I emailed Mr David Moss, Head of Compliance at ITI Capital on 25 August listing all our concerns to which he did respond to on 1 September but with just the bog standard platitudes.   

We have four family accounts with ITI Capital, three are under single names and the fourth is a joint account.  Despite sending withdrawal forms on 15 August only a portion of our cash (which consists of a year + of dividends) has so far been released.  The total value of our shares is £59630.00 and getting less by the day so perhaps you can appreciate why we are all very worried.  We have all requested a transfer to a new broker, iWeb which I would like to think is a 'work in progress' but I understand that the transfer process has virtually come to a standstill and there is no likelihood whatsoever of these transfers being completed in the 30 day suggested timeframe.

We have been fobbed off with stories of teething issues: software problems; and that ITI are working to resolve the situation etc etc even Covid-19 has been blamed but the bottom line is that this sorry state of affairs seems to be an ongoing shambolic disaster.  After 13 months of being unable to access our ISAs and dividend payments we, as long-term satisfied customers of SVS, have been thoroughly let down by this appalling nightmare and it needs to be sorted so we can all get back to a life - I have lost count of the hours spent and wasted just trying to make sense of this entire process. Due to the current Covid-19 situation our portfolios are haemorrhaging money almost on a daily basis and thanks to the incompetence of ITI Capital we are unable to do anything but sit back and watch our hard-earned life savings disappear -  like many others I am sure, we will be seeking compensation for this debacle.

We appreciate that the FCA did not select the purchaser of the SVS book, and that the ultimate decision was made by the JSAs but presumably the FCA were responsible for reviewing the regulatory history for each firm presented to them by the JSAs as having an interest in taking on the SVS book of business.  If the figure in excess of 100 buyers who indicated their interest  in taking on the SVS book of business is correct how on earth did we end up in this shambolic state?

In a nutshell this entire transfer process to ITI stinks to high heaven and we can't see that anyone is now protecting our interests. ITI Capital are not making any effort to help themselves by not communicating.  Either they simply didn't do the Due Diligence required to ensure that they had the capabilities to effect this on-boarding process or they have quite blindly gone ahead with their bid knowing that it would take many months to complete.  Either way it is fairly obvious that they don't have the professional expertise to provide even a half decent service to SVS Clients.  Leonard Curtis and the FCA are jointly responsible for this mess and need to accept responsibility.

 

reg_capitulation

Does anyone have a direct phone number for the Transfers team (person?)?

shiznit76

reg_capitulation said:

Does anyone have a direct phone number for the Transfers team (person?)?

999

shiznit76

pbcinlondon said:

Thanks to Trustpilot this forum came to light. Another ex SVS client wondering how and why this disaster is continuing to unfold. What have the JSA, Leonard Curtis, done to SVS clients? How much have they earned from this debacle? How can ITI be so inept? The FCA, once contacted, have been efficient at communicating. But what actions to make things happen are they actually taking? It is clear there are thousands of affected people, who, let's remember, have been deprived of their assets and cash for over 13 months. On the back of writing to the FCA and emailing directors at ITI (firstnamedotsurname@iticapital.com) I have some good news. The cash balance was transferred to my bank earlier this week. Next stage is ongoing: transfer of shares to another company.

Stating the obvious: ITI and Leonard Curtis are not fit for purpose and the authorities (FCA, FSCS, Financial Ombudsman and the ICAEW for LC) need to review their suitability / viability and licences.  

who did you contact at ITI ?

fmmajid

It is an absolute disgrace.
I can not even log into my ITI account today.
13 months of failure while Leonard Curtis took their time - deliberately IMO - milking extortionate fees all the while charging hundreds of pounds an hour and then after a year of this handed us over to an inept broker.
We all deserve compensation.

reg_capitulation

shiznit76 said:

reg_capitulation said:

Does anyone have a direct phone number for the Transfers team (person?)?

999

Thank you for eliciting a smile.
And on the subject of compensation, I have requested it here.    https://www.fca.org.uk/about/complain-about-regulators/form#webform-client-form-3706  I'm not expecting great things, but I find that I become less angry after I fill one in.  I am asking for more compensation each time I do so.  I expect that there will need to be court proceedings, but I recommend the form as part of an anger management strategy.

johnburman

The full link is here
https://www.fca.org.uk/about/complain-about-regulators

And yes complain

And nobody would give me the phone extension/name of anyone in the Transfers Team when I manage to speak to someone at ITI 

johnburman

LSE Rules

1020.1 adequate trade execution, recording, reporting and settlement procedures and systems and, if relevant, order and quote management procedures and systems;
1020.2 sufficient staff with adequate knowledge, experience, training and competence;
If we all complained to the LSE on the lack of reporting and they have admitted the lack of staff the LSE *may* take *some* action against them.  One hopes that other member firms are also reporting them too (but somehow one doubts it!).  We should ask our new brokers what they are doing about reporting ITI: it is not enough for them to simply send reminder emails to them.  Transfers are now some 6 weeks old.

manted

johnburman said:

The full link is here
https://www.fca.org.uk/about/complain-about-regulators

And yes complain

And nobody would give me the phone extension/name of anyone in the Transfers Team when I manage to speak to someone at ITI 

That's because, like the rest of the staff that they hired on the fly, there is no "transfers" team, 

desertorchid123

Can I make this suggestion:
Arrange a group of SVS clients to visit their London Office!!!
I would 100% willingly join but I am overseas. I cannot see how being continued key board warriors will achieve a great deal immediately, and some people are clearly being affected emotionally by this. Demand answers at the office.Personally I would cause a fuss until  some guarantees are provided. 
More direct action will actually wake a few people up.