Scam ???

jackandharry

Is anybody else having trouble contacting Barbican bond co .. ??
I spoke to northern provident the managers of the isa .. who gave me an email.. no communication.. is it a scam ?

veryintrigued

Id change the thread title to the name(s) of the company you're looking for information on so people spot it better.

Reaper

Are these the ones?
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/11196275

If so company formed just a year ago. Accounts overdue. Offering higher fixed rate (7%) than everyone else.
Looks bad.

I can't find a web page for them unless it's this one: barbicanisa.com
If so it's down too.

Lacking information I can't see how Northern Provident fits in, but being FCA authorised you MIGHT have a possibility of compensation if it all goes bad. It depends what role they played. Can you give us more details of the investment and the role of Barbican vs Northern Provident?

Reaper

Having looked a bit deeper it turns out Northern Provident are associated with a veritable rogues gallery of mini-bonds. Firms who are not FCA regulated are not allowed to advertise or even have a web site doing so. However there is an exclusion ("section 21") which allows them to do so if an FCA regulated firm has approved the literature. Northern Provident have signed off many such firms.

However they seem to go further than that and actually set themselves up with a matching trading name. Have a look on the FCA register and expand "Trading/brand names" then expand "Previous names".
https://register.fca.org.uk/ShPo_FirmDetailsPage?id=001b000000dFPdDAAW

Up pops an interesting list of questionable investments including famous names such as Blackmore, and your investment Barbican.

Presumably Northern Provident introduced you to Barbican, possibly telling you they were Barbican. According to their web site they do a Know Your Customer fact find before recommending an investment. Did they do that with you?

Unregulated mini-bonds are only allowed to be sold to sophisticated investors or those who are High Net Worth. Are you either of those? Did you tick a box to say you were?

They also say on their web site they only sell investments that "Are issued by entities who have proven experience of successful delivery in the area in which they are seeking to raise finances for". It's hard to see how how Barbican Bondco meet this claim when they have only been trading for a year and have never submitted any accounts.

Their other requirements are the investments are assets backed and have a Security Trustee but those invariably turn out to be worthless when the companies go belly up.

Your best bet is to put a claim in on Northern Provident for selling you an unsuitable investment, but the chances of success depend on how they were involved and what you told them in the fact find. If you do have a case and they can't pay then the FSCS may be able to help.

eskbanker

Reaper said:

Your best bet is to put a claim in on Northern Powerhouse for selling you an unsuitable investment

Probably more productive to contact Northern Provident, i.e. the institution concerned, rather than attempting to seek redress from a nebulous collection of conurbations....  

Reaper

Oops, yes I meant Provident. Powerhouse is a different dubious investment. Corrected above

jimjames

Barbican ISA? Spotted last year being advertised by a Facebook page called Mark's Money Matters, maybe he would be interesting helping as he promoted them. On second thoughts I wouldn't hold your breath.
https://damn-lies-and-statistics.blogspot.com/2019/06/barbican-isa-bond-scam-review.html

jimjames

Just reading the article there is mention of other countries.
Curiously Facebook insight shows that it's managed from Ukraine and Estonia
BBC had a news item about scam investments being sold from Ukraine last week, I wonder if there is any connection.

jimjames

Just reading the article there is mention of other countries.
Curiously Facebook insight shows that it's managed from Ukraine and Estonia
BBC had a news item about scam investments being sold from Ukraine last week, I wonder if there is any connection.

Reaper

Looking at the FCA number quoted on the screen shot from the blog it comes up with Northern Provident, who were of course using Barbican as a trading name. What I am less clear on is whether they are one and the same or whether Northern Provident keep switching trading names to give the false impression each mini-bond investment company has authorisation of their own.

UPDATE: According to Bond Review Northern Provident's role is to put an ISA wrapper around the investments. I guess that's why they keep changing name to align themselves with the underlying company:

Northern Provident Investments provides ISA wrappers for a number of IFISA bond investments under its umbrella; according to the FCA Register, its current trading names include Northern Provident Investments Limited, Barbican ISA, Capital Bridge ISA, Choices ISA, Fluid ISA, Just ISA and Prime ISA.

https://bondreview.co.uk/2018/10/23/just-isa-innovative-finance-isa-bonds-paying-8-per-year-over-five-years/