Five things clients will call you about this week

Five things the nationals have highlighted over the weekend that your clients will call you about this week.

Platform woes

Platforms could be on your clients' minds this week, after platform provider Transact's £3.5m fine for not keeping clients' cash safe for nine years ended up in The Independent. While investors did not lose any money as a result, the fine will be a blow to the thousands of advisers who use platforms to help manage their clients' cash, and could lead to a flood of worried calls.

Blocked bonds

Halifax Sharedealing, the cut-price stockbroker, is preventing its one million customers from subscribing to popular bonds, including the current 7% offer from finance firm Intermediate Capital Group, according to the Daily Mail. Retail bonds are increasingly popular. Although savers' capital is at risk and the bonds are not covered by the FSCS, they pay attractive interest rates and usually qualify as Isa holdings, making returns tax-free.

Platinum possibilities

Platinum could be poised to soar if the eurozone doesn't fall apart, the Telegraph reported. The platinum spot price has slumped by 26% since its high in August and it briefly fell below $1,500 a troy ounce last week. "For the very first time, a troy ounce of gold now costs over $200 more than a troy ounce of platinum," Commerzbank analysts led by Carsten Fritsch, said. "We do not view this discrepancy as sustainable because it could bring about a shift in jewellery demand towards less expensive platinum."

Forged signatures

How would you feel if you discovered your high street bank had forged your signature on a document? This is the situation one Guardian reader found himself in - and it's not just him claiming he's been the victim of foul play. NatWest has admitted, in writing, that its own handwriting specialist "has confirmed they believe the signature was forged". The Natwest customer believes it happened to make it look like he had agreed to the bank's terms and conditions on a personal loan when, in fact, he hadn't.

Frontier markets

If clients are kicking themselves for not investing in emerging markets a couple of decades ago, "frontier" markets are now being touted as the next generation, according to the Independent. Between 1992 and 2007, these markets actually had higher rates of growth than the broader emerging markets, at around 12% a year compared with 9%. Although frontier markets have soared over the past two decades, many people are wary of these new kids on the block.