Under fire self-invested personal pension (SIPP) provider Liberty SIPP has been accused putting pension investments at risk when allowing clients to invest in unregulated overseas carbon credits schemes.
Law firm Anthony Philip James & Co reported that up to 560 people have lose more than £12m after Carbonex and Aston Lloyd failed through Liberty SIPP and other SIPP providers, with methods on how to recover the lost money now being explored.
It is also alleged that a firm of solicitors acting on behalf of the investment companies may have been viewed by investors as lending credibility to the transactions.
Commenting, Anthony Philip James & Co financial mis-selling solicitor said: “Despite the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issuing warnings about the potential that carbon credit schemes were a sham, Liberty SIPP and the other providers involved failed in their due diligence process and failed to treat its customers fairly.
“Liberty SIPP allowed these investments within its SIPP where they have no intrinsic value and the regulation around these types of investments is not robust enough globally.
“Principle 2 of the FCA’s Principles for Business requires firms to ensure that they conduct and retain appropriate due diligence. This has not happened in this case and investors have lost out on millions due to being introduced to these unregulated investment firms.”
However, though SIPP operators are not ultimately responsible for recommendations given by third-party financial advisers, Liberty SIPP may have breached FCA SIPP Operator Guidance. The regulator has set an expectation that SIPP operators should have procedures in place to properly vet introducers and identify possible instances of financial crime or consumer detriment.
Many Liberty SIPP clients now face significant losses as a result of the investments being allowed to be made within their SIPP.
The investments into various Carbon Credit schemes were not appropriate for a number of the people contacted and they now face a battle to get back the money lost.
Latest News
-
Average mortgage rates creep up for first time in eight months
-
Titan Wealth agrees acquisition of Blacktower Group
-
Savers increasing allocations to fixed accounts, research shows
-
Air warns older borrowers could be in for mortgage shock
-
SIPP withdrawal requests jump 33% ahead of Autumn Budget
-
Vida Group’s profit increases 463% in H1
NEW BUILD IN FOCUS - NEW EPISODE OF THE MORTGAGE INSIDER PODCAST, OUT NOW
Figures from the National House-Building Council saw Q1 2025 register a 36% increase in new homes built across the UK compared with the same period last year, representing a striking development for the first-time buyer market. But with the higher cost of building, ongoing planning challenges and new and changing regulations, how sustainable is this growth? And what does it mean for brokers?
The role of the bridging market and technology usage in the industry
Content editor, Dan McGrath, sat down with chief operating officer at Black & White Bridging, Damien Druce, and head of development finance at Empire Global Finance, Pete Williams, to explore the role of the bridging sector, the role of AI across the industry and how the property market has fared in the Labour Government’s first year in office.
Does the North-South divide still exist in the UK housing market?
What do the most expensive parts of the country reveal about shifting demand? And why is the Manchester housing market now outperforming many southern counterparts?
In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance, to explore how regional trends are redefining the UK housing, mortgage and buy-to-let markets.
In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance, to explore how regional trends are redefining the UK housing, mortgage and buy-to-let markets.
The new episode of The Mortgage Insider podcast, out now
Regional housing markets now matter more than ever. While London and the Southeast still tend to dominate the headlines from a house price and affordability perspective, much of the growth in rental yields and buyer demand is coming from other parts of the UK.
In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance.
In this episode of the Barclays Mortgage Insider Podcast, host Phil Spencer is joined by Lucian Cook, Head of Research at Savills, and Ross Jones, founder of Home Financial and Evolve Commercial Finance.
© 2019 Perspective Publishing Privacy & Cookies
Recent Stories