A firm that approved misleading disclosures that failed to advise investors about high sales commissions was censured by the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) — but the insolvent firm wasn’t sanctioned financially by the regulator.
The FCA found that between Jan. 1, 2018 and Aug. 31, 2019, Equity for Growth (Securities) Ltd. approved several financial promotions for unregulated mini-bonds that “were unfair, unclear and misleading.”
Specifically, the regulator said the firm failed to disclose that the products carried very high commission rates — up to 27.5% in certain offerings — charges that were deducted from initial investments, sharply reducing the value of investors’ holdings.
“These failings resulted in investors being unable to make an informed decision or accurately assess the risk in investing in the mini-bonds,” the FCA said in its enforcement notice on Thursday. “This is because they did not have an accurate picture of the investment overall, the risk to their capital being repaid or the likelihood of receiving the stated returns.”
The FCA censured the firm, but declined to impose financial penalties, noting that the firm was declared insolvent earlier this year, and so any sanctions would reduce the money available to its creditors.
“Investors cannot make informed decisions without key information,” said Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, in a release. “Firms must make sure that the financial promotions they are approving are transparent about the high commissions taken from people’s money and the impact those charges have on their investments.”