UK’s FCA launches court proceedings against Argento Wealth (AWL)

The United Kingdom’s financial regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), recently made a move against a trading company known as Argento Wealth Ltd (AWL). The regulator had commenced court proceedings against both the firm and its director, Daniel Willis. According to the firm, AWL was never FCA-authorized, which means that all trading activities conducted in the UK have been unauthorized and, therefore, unlawful.

Right now, the regulator’s top priority is to recover the money that was lost by the trading firm’s users, who were unaware of its lack of licensing and regulatory approval to offer services in the UK.

AWL made three regulatory breaches

The FCA explained the issue in a press release published yesterday, February 7th. It accused AWL of no less than three regulatory breaches. The first one accused the company of unlawfully accepting 2.8 million GBP as a deposit, under an unlicensed investment scheme and loan agreements. Next, the company was accused of unlawfully arranging investments, totalling in around $9 million stored in EMB Fund Limited (EMB).

The third and final allegation is that the firm breached financial promotion legislation, as well as the restrictions placed on providers of financial services.

The FCA also believes that Willis was fully aware that all of the mentioned activities were against the law. On top of that, AWL was not able to provide evidence that would suggest that the company intended to repay the loans made to retail investors and EMBs. As such, the company officially became insolvent.

The regulator’s statement says that the FCA managed to obtain undertakings equal to interim orders freezing the remaining assets of both AWL and Willis. It explained that this action was deemed necessary to protect investors, with final orders compensating around 13 lenders who lent money to the company, as well as many others who were harmed by the firm’s unlawful investment promotion.

The FCA is trying to maintain order in the financial sector

However, despite the fact that the FCA took action, investors who gave their money to AWL will still suffer major losses. The funds that the company currently has at its disposal are far below the amount that it needs in order to repay everyone who placed their money in AWL’s care. The FCA added that the date for the High Court trial had not been set yet.

Apart from keeping an eye on unlawful companies, the FCA has also been controlling advertising of financial services, reporting that a massive amount of promotional materials are deemed inappropriate. After having to order the amendment or removal of 573 ads in 2021, the company had to react similarly to 8,582 ads in 2022, which represents a 1,400% increase in the number of detected promotional materials that do not fit the rules.

Apart from that, the regulator also increased the number of fraudulent investment warnings to 1,800. The FCA said that both were only possible thanks to far more advanced digital tools that it now has at its disposal.