The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) opened 521 enquiries into unauthorised firms in the 12 months to the end of last November, resulting in 16 full investigations into suspected firms.
In its eigth data bulletin, the regulator said it had received 11,650 enquries from consumers between 1 December 2015 and 30 November 2016 relating to scams. This represents 13% of all consumer contact with the regulator. A total of 8,277 of those reports from consumers related to potential unauthorised activity in the period, which led to the subsequent 521 enquiries and 16 investigations. The regulator said it resolved 156 matters through correspondence with firms. Where cases led to court action, however, the FCA revealed plans to return £1.9m worth of funds to out-of-pocket invest...
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