Tag: Special Administration

SVS Securities Update – Another Example of the Dangers of Nominee Accounts

ShareSoc have published an update on the situation at broker SVS Securities which went into administration recently and has affected 21,000 clients – even more than the number at Beaufort. As has happened before, it looks like some clients will lose money as a result of the “Special Administration” regime and there will be the usual long delays before clients are able to regain control of their shares and receive dividends on them. Read the update here: https://tinyurl.com/y6q82ekp

Yet again this displays the danger of the nominee account system which I have repeatedly campaigned against – see the ShareSoc web site here for more information: https://www.sharesoc.org/campaigns/shareholder-rights-campaign/

Please do support ShareSoc’s campaign on this issue, and support them by becoming a member. Nominee accounts are positively dangerous and do not protect your investments regardless of what the broker tells you.

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://twitter.com/RogerWLawson )

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Beaufort Settlement Improved, But…..

It’s good news that PWC have revised their proposals for the administration of Beaufort and the return of client assets. No doubt due to the efforts of ShareSoc and others. But it still leaves many issues that need properly tackling. These are:

  1. The Special Administration Regulations that allow client assets to be used to cover the costs of the administration. Client assets should be ring fenced and they are what they are called – client assets not assets of the broker or bank.
  2. The fact that most investors now have to use nominee accounts and they are therefore not the legal owner of the shares they hold. We need a new electronic “name on register” system and the Companies Act reformed to reflect the realities of modern share trading.
  3. The UK needs to adopt the Shareholder Rights directive as intended, so that those in nominee accounts have full rights. The “beneficial owners” are the “shareholders”, not the nominee account operator.

We must not let these matters get kicked into the long grass yet again due to the reluctance of politicians and the civil service to tackle complex issues.

Roger Lawson (Twitter: https://twitter.com/RogerWLawson )

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