SVS Securities - shut down?

dunstonh

Correct dunstonh the FCA does not deal with individual customer complaints.  But it does 'accept' complaints, reports etc. that are sent to the department (or individuals) who deal with the regulation of each regulated entity, here  ITI.

And the FCA forward those complaints to the complaints team of the firm involved.

Finally, there is always a hope, that when the FCA meet with ITI to deal with systemic failures, they will actually mention your particular complaint to them and that stirs them into action.   OK, it's a long shot, but if the FCA does not know about the failures of a regulated entity in dealing with its retail clients, how can they remedy them?     

Complaints stats data is submitted to the FCA by firms every 6 months.   The FCA have the data to look at companies that spike on complaints.   It will also look at the complaints made for trends.     So, it's all there for the FCA to look at if they choose to do so.    The historical problem with the regulator is that they collect the information but tend not to do anything with it.

masonic

johnburman said:

Helpful pafpcg and Masonic, but are we not delving into history?  SVS is in administration; most client assets if not all have been transferred to ITI, and ITI is closing its retail arm.  Thus anyone still a client of ITI needs to get out, i.e. transfer to another broker ASAP.

I agree with you completely. What's done is done, and trying to pursue a campaign against those connected with SVS, or the administrators, or indeed members of the creditors' committee, is not worth the effort.

It is still worthwhile taking up a complaint against ITI with the FOS (if not yet done and still within time limits), and as you say, getting out of there ASAP.

mebu60

masonic said:

I agree with you completely. What's done is done, and trying to pursue a campaign against those connected with SVS, or the administrators, or indeed members of the creditors' committee, is not worth the effort. It is still worthwhile taking up a complaint against ITI with the FOS (if not yet done and still within time limits), and as you say, getting out of there ASAP.

I concur. Transferred mine to iWeb as soon as I was able. Took a while, iWeb persevered heroically. Raised formal complaint with ITI and received £300 or £500, can't recall now. Left partner's smaller holding with ITI. Sold the other week and she has the cash. Shocking decision to award to ITI. Registering of formal complaints well worthwhile to mitigate against repeat mistakes but also time to move on. 

masonic

mebu60 said:

masonic said:

I agree with you completely. What's done is done, and trying to pursue a campaign against those connected with SVS, or the administrators, or indeed members of the creditors' committee, is not worth the effort. It is still worthwhile taking up a complaint against ITI with the FOS (if not yet done and still within time limits), and as you say, getting out of there ASAP.

I concur. Transferred mine to iWeb as soon as I was able. Took a while, iWeb persevered heroically. Raised formal complaint with ITI and received £300 or £500, can't recall now. Left partner's smaller holding with ITI. Sold the other week and she has the cash. Shocking decision to award to ITI. Registering of formal complaints well worthwhile to mitigate against repeat mistakes but also time to move on. 

That's very useful information about the successful transfer to iWeb. Shows that they have become aware of something about ITI subsequently that has informed their decision not to have anything to do with them.

El_D365

Hi,

I would be very grateful for some advice please.

I was never a client of SVS, I became a client of ITI Capital when they took over Walbrook Markets in 2017.  I'm a buy and hold investor so I had basically zero interaction with them until 2019 when I liquidated some holdings and withdrew the cash.  These transactions took place relatively easily, which gave me a false sense of security that they were competent.

Fast forward to July 2022 and I received the email late Friday evening that ITI Capital were closing their retail arm in the UK.

I immediately opened an account with Interactive Brokers, initiated a position transfer request with them detailing my holdings, and emailed ITI the authorization letter the following Monday morning.  I received an acknowledgement email from ITI, swiftly followed by ITI sending Interactive Broker an acknowledgement email on Tuesday (26th July) that they had received the transfer form and that "soon our transfer team will send valuation of your holdings to IB".

And that is where things have stalled.

ITI Capital say that a transfer between brokers can take up to 8 weeks in their FAQ. 

Today, Interactive Brokers closed the position transfer request with the details "Rejected by IB. The opposing institution did not acknowledge the transfer request."

I have opened a ticket with Interactive Brokers asking them to reopen the position transfer request but I haven't received a response from them so far.

What should my next steps be??? 

Any advice would be so welcome, I'm worried sick that my portfolio will just disappear end of September.  Is this a legitimate worry?  If the transfer keeps stalling should I try to close all positions and try to withdraw the cash?

masonic

El_D365 said:

What should my next steps be??? 

Raise a formal complaint at ITI and either get the transfer reinstated or start a new one. If things don't go smoothly this time then your complaint will put a line in the sand for escalating to the Financial Ombudsman Service. Your assets aren't at risk, and it is ITI's problem if they get left holding client assets beyond the deadline set by the FCA, they will have to find a way to return them to you, or if they go into administration, the Joint Special Administrators will be tasked with doing so. Transferring manually will come with costs and potential losses due to time out of the market, and you'd be on shaky ground trying to recover those costs from ITI (or the FSCS if they go into administration) at this stage, but if you try and fail a second time that will put you in a stronger position that you had no choice but to move your assets this way.

RasputinB

El_D365 said:

I have opened a ticket with Interactive Brokers asking them to reopen the position transfer request but I haven't received a response from them so far.

Sound comments from masonic especially that it may be as well to start a new position transfer request yourself rather than wait for a response from Interactive Brokers. Also I'd officially complain to both the ITI compliance officer and their legal bod (apparently I shouldn't name her here) of your problems and hope that they will keep an eye out for the transfer request from IBKR and get it sorted. If you are owed cash then threat of legal action has worked wonders to get ITI moving. If you want to explore that option I'll see if I can find the original postings on this forum that refer to the procedure. It won't work for just stocks but maybe there is some dividend income?
Edited to add this link SVS Securities - shut down? - Page 509 — MoneySavingExpert Forum

johnburman

Good advice from Rasputin B and masonic.

1  complain as suggested
2  I would tell the FCA.  They know about ITI pulling out of the retail sector and the fact that you have been treated this way should be reported to them
3  shares with ITI should be held by a ringfaced custodian (is it a subsidiary of ITI?)
4  at the end of the day you will be making a complaint to the FOS for compensation, so keep all the emails of complaint  and to the FCA to send to the FOS

BUT what on earth made you decide to stay with ITI in the first place, and they were expensive too.

Is there any reason you should not open an account with another broker (x-o or iWeb) and then try and transfer if IB let you down?

AND

The more I think about it, IB have hardly been efficient.  You say:

Today, Interactive Brokers closed the position transfer request with the details "Rejected by IB. The opposing institution did not acknowledge the transfer request."

I have opened a ticket with Interactive Brokers asking them to reopen the position transfer request but I haven't received a response from them so far.

a) this is good evidence against ITI - this should be copied to the FCA/FOS

b) this is a poor show by IB.  Complain to them about their actions; and consider including them in your FCA (and FOS) complaint.  

El_D365

Very grateful for the responses, thank you.

I have just received this reply from IB;

For any transfer queries from your ITI account towards U********, please contact ITI directly so they can formally submit the request to us.
There has been a standardised transfer procedure in place recently and exclusively between ITI and IBKR.
Regards,
IBKR Professional Services

So I believe my next move should be.

1. Complain to ITI by email, and ask them to confirm details to IBKR immediately.

2. Contact FCA

johnburman

At least they respond to your emails!

I would say yes and yes - and cc all emails to the FCA for their info.  And that email can be sent on to show you have complained to the FCA.