SVS Securities - shut down?

snipkin

On Leonard Curtis website today: Joint Special Administrators’ Third Progress Report 25/02/2021

Sheris

snipkin said:

On Leonard Curtis website today: Joint Special Administrators’ Third Progress Report 25/02/2021

Never seen a statement with so much rubbish in all my life 

My2penneth

"Total time costs incurred to 4 February 2021 are £12,040,812 representing 27,867 hours at an average rate of £432.09 per hour, which are summarised at Appendix D.

So, a 35 hour week,full time, one person  = £15k. 
40 weeks per year = £600k 
Seriously,  and they get away with it!

dales1

Well, you wouldn't want this work done by monkeys, would you.

And I don't think it's actually "time costs" but chargeout rates.

Because we can.

sweeter_strudel

snipkin said:

On Leonard Curtis website today: Joint Special Administrators’ Third Progress Report 25/02/2021

Heavy going Snipkin but fairly interesting if you revel in detail.

No true figures regarding how many of the 18,000+ SVS clients were left high and dry after ending up with ITI or info regarding the current state of affairs on how many have ever traded via Phoenix.

4.1.1.2 gives info about delisted shares. Has anyone heard from Leonard Curtis about what is likely to happen? 130 of these stocks existed, but less than a dozen are going to be returned to Clients.

Other amusing reading was 5.2 where LC continue to try and sell £600k+ of shares that SVS were left holding on  their books as they never had a chance to punt them on to clients like me and you.

Much of section 5 makes for grim reading. The only thing of value seems to be the deposit sitting with the landlord for renting the SVS offices and rental income from sub-letting...... And they quit the offices last December.

Section 7 implies some Director may eventually be held accountable, some day, in some court, in the future.... Maybe.

Judging by the drop off in posting here I reckon most people who wanted to escape have done so. And those who live outside the UK and or can't open joint accounts are stuck with ITI.

Ravima

no mention either of the (lack of) assistance given to SVS shareholders in trying to extricate shares from ITI and get cash back as well.

Sheris

Ravima said:

no mention either of the (lack of) assistance given to SVS shareholders in trying to extricate shares from ITI and get cash back as well.

Very true with no assistance in my experience, L&C are the same as ITI very poor and not telling the truth.    

snipkin

In the report it says the LC have "issued all Clients with Consolidated Tax Vouchers for the 19/20 and 20/21 tax years". Well, for 2020/21 the tax report was only 'to date' - that is, up to when ITI took over our investments on 24 July 2020.

So, will I ever receive, from ITI, tax vouchers for the period I was with them? No answer from ITI on this - after some months to two emails I sent them asking if I will received this information. If I don't, how can I accurately do my tax returns when the time comes (not for some time yet for 2020/21, I know)? Or is LC still responsible for this information?

Also I may (or may not) have a dividend or two missing but it is impossible to tell when the data in Qort > Phoenix is so opaque - just cash lump sums appearing in Phoenix labelled 'Balance' or 'Income from Financial Instruments' bearing no relation to anything. So I have this 3-4 month period when ITI held my investments with little idea of what happened with regard to dividends and the distinct probability that I never will get that information. I am talking maybe a few hundred pounds at most - not much relative to my investments - so I am not that worried about it. It's just another frustrating annoyance.

By the way, do we need to formally request closure of our ITI accounts? I have nothing in them now. But could I be charged soon for the ITI accounts even if there is nothing in them??

My2penneth

In my complaint to the FOS, I listed a requirement to receive a statement on all dividends paid for HMRC tax filing purposes.  I have an email from one senior ITI member saying that if I write in to them they will furnish such a list ( why can't I simply email?). I have previously requested a list of dividends in emails...all ignored.

I have been informed that I still have sums in dollars and euros in my SC accounts...how do I get them converted...probably many phone calls/emails. The total is c. £100 but I'll be darned if I let them keep it!


Charges...looking at the January 2021 rate card download from ITI Crapital's website, custody fees are based on what assets are in the accounts....no minimum stated. 

On mine and the wife's separate ISA accounts, I got fed of of waiting for them to transfer the ( small sums of) cash to our other broker so I filled in a withdrawal form and checked the "close account" box. 

Hmm...thinking about it, I might do the same with the dollar and euro sums of money mentioned above..

snipkin

My2penneth said:

[...]

I have been informed that I still have sums in dollars and euros in my SC accounts...how do I get them converted...probably many phone calls/emails. The total is c. £100 but I'll be darned if I let them keep it!
[...]

I seem to remember that on the ITI withdrawal form you can request the money is converted to another currency. I had some US $ cash from a dividend (the one obvious dividend - because in $ - that actually appeared in my ITI account) so I did a withdrawal form (wrote it out, scanned it, emailed it with latest bank statement palaver) stating the exact amount in US $ as stated in my Phoenix account and requesting convert to £ UK. OK, so ITI took some small amount for a currency conversion charge and got a bit of money out of it...

Perhaps, as you suggest and if I can get around to it, I might write with my best fountain pen to ITI by Royal Mail letter post to close my accounts with them, requesting a full closing statement including all dividends individually itemised for future HMRC tax filing.