The Financial Conduct Authority has bitten back against accusations made by the Complaints Commissioner criticising the FCA register's role in the London Capital & Finance’s mini-bonds debacle.

The regulator said it does not agree with the Commissioner’s conclusion that the register was misleading and led LCF investors into thinking they were investing in a safe product.

The FCA released its response to the Commissioner’s report into its oversight of LCF yesterday evening. 

Last month the Commissioner released its report in response to the FCA’s handling of the LCF mini-bond scandal.

Some 11,625 investors lost savings worth a total of £237m when LCF collapsed, with the majority facing heavy losses until the government stepped in to provide compensation after a campaign to expose regulatory failings.

All LCF bondholders eligible for compensation under the government scheme are expected to receive their offer by 20 April.

Complaints Commissioner Amerdeep Somal’s said in her final report that she could see how the register could have given investors misleading information and urged the FCA to amend the risk warning message on its register to make it simple and concise for investors to understand.

The regulator said that the register had accurately reflected the information it had on LCF at the time.

In its response to the Commissioner’s report the FCA said: “It appears that the Commissioner has concluded that the register was misleading because investors assumed they were investing in a safe product solely, or largely, because LCF was on the register.

"As required by legislation we give authorised persons permission to carry on certain financial services and we provide information about those permissions on the Register. Based on the information that we have, the register’s entry correctly reflected LCF’s permissions at the time. Given this, we cannot agree with the Commissioner’s conclusion that the register was misleading.”

The FCA added that the register was not designed to be the sole source of information for investors to use when making investment decisions and that it expects investors to, “consider a wide range of information from different sources to help them understand any potential investment and the risks involved”

However, the regulator did accept that, “there is scope for improvement” of the register and that it has since made changes to ensure that, “its role is displayed more clearly and prominently”.