FCA warns on scammers targeting Hartley victims

The FCA has warned that scammers may be targeting victims of the collapsed SIPP and SSAS provider Hartley Pensions. The regulator issued a warning this week about the scam attempts. Hartley Pensions went into administration last year after several regulatory interventions and a failure to find a buyer. Scammers are believed to be targeting Hartley victims via emails and phone calls. The scam communications falsely claim to be from Hartley Pensions. Consumers may have received emails from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ' and calls from 020 7971 1496. Messages appear to be from people claiming that they are working on behalf of Hartley but the FCA says any correspondence from the email address or phone number is not authorised by Hartley or the Joint Administrators and may be a scam. Anyone receiving a message from these sources is asked to report it via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 0800 063 9113 (UK callers), +44 20 3282 8151 (international callers) The joint administrators have written to consumers explaining the steps they are taking in the administration, and further information is provided on their website. Separately, and in an issue not connected with the scam attempts, last November, a communication was sent to members of the pension schemes – administered by Hartley – by Tony Flanagan, a director of Hartley and the director of the companies that act as trustee of the Hartley SIPPS, without the agreement of either the joint administrators or the FCA. The FCA said the communication contains “factual inaccuracies” which may have caused customers concern. The existing pension assets of Hartley clients are currently unaffected by the firm going into administration. They are held by trustee firms and have not entered into insolvency. Any pension assets cannot be removed without appropriate consent, the FCA said. Hartley was subject to a number of FCA requirements last year due to “serious operational, financial and regulatory issues.” The firm entered into a number of voluntary requirements between February 2022 and June 2022. As a result of the issues, the FCA requested that the firm go into an insolvency process in the interest of clients. The firm then sought professional insolvency advice, and, as a result, a director determined that it was insolvent and took steps to place it into administration. Troubled SIPP firm Hartley Pensions Limited went into administration in July last year. The firm provided thousands of SIPPs and also provided administration for a small number of Small Self-Administered Schemes. In previous years, Hartley Pensions had acquired the client books of several failed SIPP providers. It bought the Guinness Mahon book in February 2020 after the firm collapsed. The deal meant the transfer of 4,000 SIPPs previously administered by GMTC which suffered a string of problems and legal actions from unhappy clients. Other SIPP books the firm acquired in recent years included GPC, Berkeley Burke SIPP and Greyfriars AM.

FCA warns on scammers targeting Hartley victims

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