The FCA commenced civil proceedings in September 2014 because it was concerned that individuals purporting to be Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG had carried on regulated activities in breach of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 by acting without authorisation.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) secured interim injunctions and freezing orders from the High Court following an alert previously issued[1].
The orders effectively prevented those operating the clone from promoting and selling shares pending further investigation by the FCA and froze some money which the FCA believed came from consumers who were led to believe they were investing in shares.
In December 2015, the High Court a made an order entitling the FCA to distribute the money it had frozen to those investors whose money was transferred to the frozen account.
Based on the information currently available to the FCA, it is unlikely that further monies will be recovered by the FCA for distribution to investors. The ‘cloned firm’ had no association with the genuine firm which is authorised by the FCA to offer, promote or sell services or products in the UK. The genuine firm’s details are:
Name: Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co. KG
FRN: 222782
Address: 60 Threadneedle Street, London EC2R 8HP
Tel: 020 3207 7800
Website: www.berenberg.com[2]
How to protect yourself
Find out more about how to protect yourself and make sure you are dealing with genuine, authorised firms on our website.
Report a clone firm
If you think you have been approached by an unauthorised or clone firm, or contacted about a scam, you should contact our Consumer Helpline on 0800 111 6768. If you were offered, bought or sold shares, you can use our share fraud reporting form.
You can see more ways to report an unauthorised firm and find out what to do if you have been scammed.
What to do if your firm is cloned
If you think your authorised firm has been cloned or scammers are fraudulently using your name or other details, contact our Firm Helpline on 0845 606 9966 (call rates may vary).