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Central Bank of Ireland exposes unauthorised firms

Chris Hamblin, Editor, London, 18 July 2016

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Ireland's all-in-one financial regulator has alerted the public to the unauthorised nature of Capita Group (USA) and Farnhams Consulting Group (USA) in accordance with the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013.

According to the central bank, there is no connection whatsoever between the unauthorised entity that goes by the name of Capita and the authorised firm of Capita Asset Services (Ireland) Ltd (or any related companies in the Capita plc Group).

A list of unauthorised firms that have come to the regulators' attention is available on the Central Bank website, along with their warning dates. There are 274 in all, with 79 coming from the United States, 32 from Ireland, 31 from Switzerland, 23 from Japan, 21 from Hong Kong, 20 from Spain, 16 from the United Kingdom, 12 from the Philippines, 10 from the Bahamas, 10 from Singapore, 8 from Canada, 6 from Luxembourg, 6 from Thailand, 6 from China (usually in conjunction with another country), 6 from Panama and only a handful from many other countries including, perhaps surprisingly, the British Virgin Islands (3) and the Cayman Islands (4). The sloppily-kept list begins in 1998 and covers almost two decades. Many firms came from more than one jurisdiction.

It is a criminal offence for an unauthorised firm/person to provide financial services in Ireland that would require an authorisation under the relevant legislation which the central bank is responsible for enforcing. Consumers should be aware that, if they deal with a firm/person who is not authorised, they are not eligible for compensation from the Irish Investor Compensation Scheme.

Any person who wants to contact the Central Bank of Ireland with information regarding such firms or persons may telephone (01) 224 4000.

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