Month: August 2018

Global Fin Services Limited (GFS) was wound up in the public interest at the High Court on 16 July 2018 and the Official Receiver is now the liquidator of the company.

Incorporated in October 2015, GFS offered an online platform for trading forex, derivatives and other investments via the website ‘www.trade12.com’. GFS listed a virtual office in London as their registered address but their customers were predominantly located in South East Asia, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.

Following complaints from the public, the Insolvency Service investigated the company and found several examples of misconduct.

GFS’s representatives made unsolicited calls to members of the public, often to people who had little or no experience of online trading. Customers were subjected to highly pressurised sales tactics and were misled about the amount of returns made on investments.

Returns on investments quoted by GFS representatives ranged from 10-15% per week or month, with a guarantee to cap losses at 10% of the investment, or returns of between 50-100% on deposits within 30 days.

Investors also complained that GFS made it difficult to withdraw their funds and when money was taken out, their accounts would suffer losses. In a ploy to recover money that was taken out, GFS’ account managers would then urge customers they needed to invest more to enable them to try and recover the losses.

Investigators could not see any evidence that funds paid through the website were invested as the sales representatives said they would and GFS failed to provide any of its accounting records, while also claiming they provided clearing services for its holding company, Exo Capital Markets Limited, a company registered in the Marshall Islands.

Those clients who had made complaints against the company reported losses of more than $1.25 million (USD) but the total amount of investments cannot be confirmed because the company failed to produce any evidence of its accounting records.

And there was evidence that financial regulators across the world, including the FCA, had issued warnings against GFS and Exo Capital Markets Limited, which also traded as “Trade 12”.

Irshard Mohammed, Chief Investigator for the Insolvency Service, said:

GFS had a blatant disregard for their customers. They preyed on people who had little to no experience in making investments of this nature, using unscrupulous tactics to secure funds.

We are pleased that the courts have shut down this company, saving any more people losing their money and we hope this sends a strong message that we will robustly investigate and take action where people’s funds and savings are at risk.

By virtue of the appointment of the Official Receiver all public enquiries concerning the affairs of the company should be made to: The Official Receiver, Public Interest Unit, 2nd Floor, 4 Abbey Orchard Street, London SW1P 2HT. Email: piu.south@insolvency.gsi.gov.uk.

Notes to Editors

Global Fin Services Limited, company registration number 09836699, was incorporated on 22 October 2015. The company’s registered office is at 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ, that of a virtual office provider.

The petition to wind-up Global Fin Services Limited was presented under s124A of the Insolvency Act 1986 on 22 February 2018. The company was wound up on 16 July 2018 and the Official Receiver has been appointed as liquidator.

Company Investigations, part of the Insolvency Service, uses powers under the Companies Act 1985 to conduct confidential fact-finding investigations into the activities of live limited companies in the UK on behalf of the Secretary of State for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS).

Further information about live company investigations is available here.

The Insolvency Service, an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), administers the insolvency regime, and aims to deliver and promote a range of investigation and enforcement activities both civil and criminal in nature, to support fair and open markets. We do this by effectively enforcing the statutory company and insolvency regimes, maintaining public confidence in those regimes and reducing the harm caused to victims of fraudulent activity and to the business community, including dealing with the disqualification of directors in corporate failures.

Further information about the work of the Insolvency Service, and how to complain about financial misconduct, is available

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The Traffic Commissioners for Great Britain have used their latest annual report to highlight progress in reducing application processing times.

Between 2016/17 and 2017/18, the average time for a decision reduced from over 11 weeks to just over 7 weeks.

In addition, 90.2% of digital licence applications were granted within seven weeks against the published service standards provided.

Operators and applicants who apply digitally should now benefit from time savings, swifter correspondence and an intuitive application process that’s designed to make sure more complete information is provided.

In his foreword to the report, the Senior Traffic Commissioner for Great Britain, Richard Turfitt, says the regulators’ approach better supports innovation and economic growth. He goes on to add that whilst there is relative safety on our roads this does not mean there is room for complacency when it comes to compliance standards.

In 2017/18, the commissioners held 971 hearings into businesses reported for safety or licensing breaches, taking action to prevent the most serious offenders from running vehicles in the future.

The annual report reflects on the real and potential consequences of failing to keep vehicles properly maintained, using the example of an operator who is trusted to transport schoolchildren.

The report says: “It will be hard for anyone to understand why some operators believe it is acceptable to take our children to school in vehicles that are plainly dangerous.

The commissioners call on those responsible for procurement to make sure quality and compliance are foremost in their considerations.

The regulators expect compliance from every operator, saying: “There is no place in our industry for the people who operate vehicles this way and we take decisive action when these licence holders are brought to our attention.”

Their role as gatekeepers to the industry and the importance of maintaining a level playing field also feature prominently in the report.

“The vast majority of HGV and PSV operations are committed to running safe vehicles and working within the rules,” the regulators state.

“A licence holder is entitled to assume that when they bid for work, a competitor will not be able to get that contract as a result of cutting corners, especially where safety is concerned.”

The commissioners recognise the efforts of operators who work hard to meet safety and licensing standards and set out their commitment to engage with business at industry events and meetings.

“Operators who get things right – who abide by the daily discipline of carrying out checks and completing paperwork – need reassurance and guidance to stay compliant,” the report points out.

However, in dealing with those in the ‘long under-performing tail’ of the industry, the commissioners find the underlying causes to be poor management and a failure to access proper guidance.

They urge transport managers – who occupy a key role in the industry – to keep their knowledge and skills up to date through refresher training. But they also remind businesses to make sure the transport managers they employ are doing the job properly – otherwise they could lose their permission to run vehicles.

The report examines the other activities commissioners have been focusing on in order to deliver their strategic objectives.
This includes:

• working to reduce the time it takes to get serious offenders to a hearing for potential action
• publishing average application processing times on GOV.UK
• publishing their written decisions on GOV.UK
• commissioning a study of how effective their sanctions are

The report concludes by reinforcing the critical role played by others in support of traffic commissioners. It recognises the importance of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) in providing evidence for sound regulatory decisions to be made. The report also addresses the need for proper resourcing of the Office of the Traffic Commissioner.