Blankstone Sington Limited (BSL) enters special administration

Special administration is a modified insolvency procedure for certain investment firms. Insolvency Practitioners are appointed by the court as special administrators to take control and manage the affairs of the firm. The special administrators have an objective to return client money and custody assets as soon as reasonably practicable, ensure timely engagement with market infrastructure bodies and authorities and either rescue the firm as a going concern or wind it up in the best interests of the creditors.

If you are a client of BSL, the joint special administrators will be contacting you shortly to explain what this means for you and what action you should take.

Clients should contact the joint special administrators via: 

• Website: http://www.leonardcurtis.co.uk/case/Blankstone  
• Email: [email protected]  
• Telephone: 0161 820 4238

Clients should contact the joint special administrators in the first instance. The contact details are listed above.

The special administrators are in the process of carrying out an assessment of the client money and custody assets held with BSL to confirm the current position. Following the assessment, the special administrators will work to return client money and custody assets to customers in accordance with applicable law.

There are costs associated with distributing client money and custody assets back to clients. Under the legislation, these costs will be deducted from the client money or custody assets associated with BSL. 

Please see below regarding Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) coverage for these costs for eligible clients. Clients should contact the joint special administrators for further information. Their contact details are above.

The FCA is not the regulatory authority for Insolvency Practitioners. However, BSL remains authorised by the FCA and subject to our rules. We will continue to liaise with the special administrators throughout the special administration.

The special administrators are officers of the court and will need to comply with all relevant insolvency law. The individuals appointed are authorised to act as Licensed Insolvency Practitioners by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW).

The FSCS protects consumers when financial services firms are not able to meet claims against them.  

It is the compensation scheme for customers of UK authorised financial services firms.  

The FSCS will not be open to customer claims at this time, but they are investigating whether there are any claims that are eligible for compensation and how any claims might best be dealt with. As part of the investigation, they will be working closely with the joint special administrators and the FCA. 

Further updates will be posted on this page when they become available.

Please contact the Financial Ombudsman Service via its website or by calling its helpline on 0800 023 4567.

You should proceed with caution if you are approached by CMCs. For the vast majority of clients, there is no benefit in involving a third party to assist you in recovering your money or to make a claim against BSL.

If you use a CMC to assist with the return of your client money or custody assets, the CMC is likely to charge a fee which is likely to reduce the amount that you get back. We suggest that you first discuss this with the joint special administrators.

Scammers may look to take advantage of the special administration of BSL to try to defraud clients.

All clients should remain alert to the possibility of fraud. If you are cold called by someone claiming to be from BSL or Leonard Curtis, please end the call and contact the joint special administrators using the contact details on this page. 

We recommend that clients review information that the FCA has published on our website, to help protect people from scams. 

The joint special administrators will carry out an assessment of the client money and assets associated with BSL and contact clients to confirm the current position.

The joint special administrators will carry out an assessment of the client money and assets associated with BSL and contact clients to confirm the current position.