FSA commits to reviewing Arch Cru redress information

Margaret Cole, managing director of the Financial Services Authority's (FSA) conduct unit, has pledged to MPs the regulator will look again at how Capita presented redress for Arch Cru investors under its £54m payment scheme.

The FSA also committed to bringing "all parties involved in Arch Cru" - including Capita, HSBC, BNY Mellon and representatives of the Channel Island Stock Exchange - together to disuss the issue of the suspended fund range.

More than 30 MPs attended a meeting in Westminster today to discuss widespread investor anger at what they feel is inadequate provision under the FSA-brokered scheme, and a lack of transparency over who is to blame for the funds' failure.

Back bencher Tom Greatrex, who co-chaired the closed meeting of MPs and the FSA, said there is a "fairly strong feeling" among MPs that IFAs "are not who people should be going after, yet".

He said MPs used today's meeting to formally set up an All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Arch Cru to further scrutinise issues around the failure of the fund range.

The APPG will look to bring the Financial Ombudsman into a meeting next, he said.

Capita and the FSA have said the £54m redress scheme will return investors approximately 70% of their capital, when taken with amounts already received and any value which can be got from selling off the remaining assets in the Arch Cru funds.

Investors argue the true figure will be closer to 50% or less.

Greatrex told IFAonline: "MPs talked a lot about how the percentage in the offer letters was arrived at.

"The FSA said it will look again at the terminology around this, and how it came up with its figures.

"The FSA has also committed to getting all parties around a table, included non-regulated bodies like the Channel Island Stock Exchange, to discuss what happened and what to do going forward."