We have apologised to people who invested in Basset & Gold plc and Basset & Gold Ltd for failures in the way we dealt with the firms.
Both were unregulated firms that raised funds by issuing mini-bonds. Although they were appointed representatives on the Financial Services Register, we did not directly regulate or approve the registration of these companies. Basset & Gold Ltd went out of business in 2021 and Basset & Gold plc in 2022.
Basset & Gold plc and Basset & Gold Ltd were appointed representatives of 3 regulated firms:
- Thornbridge Investment Management LLP
- Gallium Fund Solutions Ltd
- B&G Finance Ltd
These 3 firms acted as principals and were responsible for their appointed representatives’ conduct, including the approval of the financial promotions for mini-bonds at different times.
Our response
Complainants raised a number of issues about our actions, including the authorisation and supervision of the firms involved.
We have carefully considered the complaints and decided to uphold complaints about failings in our:
- Authorisation of B&G Finance Ltd.
- Supervision of Basset & Gold plc, Basset & Gold Ltd and B&G Finance Ltd.
We have not upheld the complaints about:
- The authorisation of Basset & Gold plc and Basset & Gold Ltd.
- A failure to stop the sale of Basset & Gold plc mini-bonds at an earlier time or a failure to act on a specific warning about Basset & Gold plc.
We accept that we failed to consider all the information we had about B&G Finance Ltd and its related companies in the round. This meant issues were addressed individually rather than collectively, which may have changed our engagement with the firms.
However, we do not believe that the missed opportunities would have altered the outcome of our interactions with the firms or ultimately prevented Basset & Gold plc’s failure.
Given we were not the direct cause of the investor losses which were caused by the failure of Basset & Gold plc and related entities, we will not pay any redress for failures, but have apologised to complainants for our historic failures.
However, we will pay £200 to each complainant in recognition of how long it took to respond to the complaints.
Promoting mini-bonds
Issuing mini-bonds is not a regulated activity. In January 2021, we banned the promotion of mini-bonds to consumers, unless they were sophisticated or had a high net worth. In February 2023, we introduced new rules to raise standards for firms promoting high-risk investments and approving financial promotions[1].
Since February 2024, all authorised firms that want to approve financial promotions for unauthorised firms must apply to the FCA for specific ‘approver permission[2]’.