The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has imposed a number of restrictions on IFA firm Colbourne & Company stopping it from carrying out any regulated activities due to its concerns about the way the firm conducts its business.
On 23 June 2022, the FCA said that it believes that Colbourne & Company “has for a number of years been carrying out regulated activities outside its Part 4A permission”.
During this period, the UK regulator said the company had “taken unauthorised fees, believed to total over £250,000 ($307,098, €290,490), from a number of its retail clients, some of whom are elderly and who may be vulnerable”.
Colbourne & Company is a one-man band and Anthony James Colbourne is the only person in the business able to conduct regulated activity on the firm’s behalf.
Restrictions
The FCA issued a first supervisory notice on 23 June outlining the restrictions it has placed on the IFA firm.
These include:
- Colbourne must immediately cease carrying on all regulated activities for which it has a Part 4A permission, other than where it has been given written consent of the FCA to carry on the requested activities;
- Colbourne must immediately cease carrying on all regulated activities for which it does not hold a Part 4A permission;
- Colbourne must immediately cease invoicing for or collecting all charges, fees and commissions for regulated activities it has carried out for retail investors;
- Colbourne must not on-board any new customers; and
- Colbourne must secure all books and records and preserve all information, including material held via online/cloud-based systems to which the firm has access, in relation to regulated activities carried on by it and, in addition, regulated activities carried out for or in relation to customers with whom it is not authorised to deal.
The UK watchdog also placed an asset restriction on the firm. This means Colbourne must not, without the prior written consent of the FCA, take any action which has, or may have the effect of in any way disposing of, withdrawing, transferring, dealing with or diminishing the value of any of its own assets, whether in the UK or elsewhere.
Colbourne & Company has the right to make written or oral representations to the FCA on the first supervisory notice.
The FCA said: “Our restrictions will stop Colbourne & Company from carrying on any regulated activity and prevent it from reducing the value of its assets it holds, without the consent of the FCA.”
International Adviser has contacted Colbourne & Company for a comment, but it did not reply in time for publication.
