The FCA has revealed that on 22 August it imposed restrictions on London Court Limited (FRN 146522) for failings relating to the 'My Investment Hub' platform.

It means that London Court cannot conduct regulated activities for either new clients or new investments.

The firm, based in Kensington Church Street in London, can provide bond administration and ISA management services to existing clients and investments they already hold, the FCA said.

The regulator said: “We are concerned that London Court Ltd has inadequate systems and controls in place to ensure investments on its My Investment Hub platform are compatible with the needs of the clients to whom investments are distributed.

“We have reviewed investments on the My Investment Hub platform and have serious concerns over the level of due diligence London Court Ltd has conducted.”

The regulator said the firm was likely to fail to satisfy the Adequate Resources Threshold Condition pursuant to section 2D of Schedule 6 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000.

London Court was incorporated on 10 January 1989 and has been authorised since 1 December 2001. It provides bond administration and ISA management services for several investments via its platform.

It holds permissions for advising on investments and P2P agreements, arranging deals in investments and making arrangements with a view to transactions in investments.

From February 2021 the FCA has been in discussion with the firm about, “the scope of the regulated activities it was performing.”

In December 2022 it contacted the firm with concerns about an investment offered on its platform by one of the firm’s clients (Client A).

The FCA said: “The investor information provided to investors in connection with investments offered by Client A were insufficient for an investor to make an informed decision whether to purchase the investment, were inaccurate and/or were potentially misleading.”

By March this year the FCA expressed concerns about another of the firm’s clients (Client B). It asked London Court not to offer further investments on behalf of Client B “until it could demonstrate that it had undertaken appropriate due diligence.”

After further discussions between the London Court and the FCA, the regulator said it imposed restrictions on the firm in August with immediate effect, “given the seriousness of the risks to consumers if the firm re-opened the platform to new investors and given the Authority’s view of the scale of remedial work required to bring the firm’s operations in relation to the platform into compliance with the requirements of the regulatory regime.”

London Court has the right to make written representations to the Authority about the restrictions as well as to appeal the matter to the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber).