SIPP provider STM Group has issued a statement today that its chief executive Alan Kentish has been released from arrest by the Royal Gibraltar police as of 13 November “without any charge.”

The company yesterday announced that its shares on AIM had been suspended from trading. The shares remain suspended.

STM says that following STM’s announcements of 30 October and 3 November, an application was submitted for judicial review against the Royal Gibraltar Police to the Supreme Court in Gibraltar on 9 November.  No date for this hearing has yet been set.

Mr Kentish continues to “cooperate fully” with the RGP while they conclude their investigation, says STM.

Directors of the firm have remained supportive of Mr Kentish and documentation has been lodged to support the judicial review “robustly.” The board believes there is no merit to the allegations which relate to a tax dispute with a client and alleged failure to comply with proceeds of crime legislation in Gibraltar.

STM said that on Thursday 19 October Mr Kentish was arrested by the Royal Gibraltar Police on an allegation of failure to disclose under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2015. The arrest came approximately two years after STM filed two Suspicious Activity Reports itself to the Royal Gibraltar Police during a tax dispute with a client.

In a separate development, the company said that as of 2 November Mr Kentish had resigned from two Gibraltar regulated subsidiaries, STM Fidecs Insurance Management Limited and STM Life Assurance PCC Plc. These resignations were “purely voluntary” and were to mitigate any potential reputational damage to the subsidiaries. The resignations also put in place the first steps of the relocation of the group’s head office out of Gibraltar (as announced on 30 October 2017), said STM.

The move will also allow Mr Kentish to fully focus on “furthering the strategic objectives” of the company, says STM.

This week the company also announced that it was acquiring Malta-based Harbour Pensions, a retirement scheme and QROPs provider with 1,600 members and revenues last year of £1.1m.