Capita makes individual offers to Arch Cru investors

Capita Financial Managers has today sent a further letter to investors who lost money in the Arch Cru fund range to set out their individual entitlements under a £54m payment scheme.

Capita, the authorised corporate director of the fund range, and depositories HSBC and BNY Mellon, have each contributed unknown amounts to the FSA-brokered scheme, announced on 21 June.

Investors have until December 2012 to choose whether to accept their individual offer.

Those who accept the offer made to them will receive payment within six weeks of receipt by Capita of a correctly completed application.

Recipients must agree the payment is in full and final settlement of any claims they may consider they would otherwise have against the firms.

Arch Cru investors are unhappy with the partial payment, and argue they will receive less than 50% of their capital back.

Gareth Fatchett, partner at law firm Regulatory Legal which acts on behalf of  2,700 Arch Cru investors, said: "The offers are unsatisfactory, but for some they will be enough when taken with the FSCS. For others, a judicial review of the Capita offer is the best way forward.

Arch Cru investors have written to their MPs accusing Capita of intentionally violating the FSA's treating customers fairly (TCF) charter.

The FSA has backed the deal. It said it estimates investors will on average have about 70% of the published net asset value of the Arch cru Funds as at the suspension of dealings on 13 March 2009 returned.

Only part of this will be provided by the scheme, with the rest expected through further distributions from the fund as it is wound down, the regulator said.

Earlier this week shareholders in the Arch Cru cell funds approved proposals from the boards of the funds to begin share buyback programmes. The programmes are the latest stage of the long drawn out process of returning money to investors.