German Property Group: Insolvency

(asked on 7th December 2020) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Government taking to investigate the actions of German Property Group and the unregulated financial products sold to UK investors.


Answered by
John Glen Portrait
John Glen
Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
This question was answered on 14th December 2020

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) are working closely with financial advisers who have advised customers to make these investments and operators of Self Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs) whose customers currently hold investments with the German Property Group (GPG).

The FCA have published a joint statement with the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and the Financial Ombudsman Service. The statement sets out what UK consumers should do if they invested in GPG via an FCA authorised firm, either a financial adviser firm or a SIPP operator, and they believe they were mis-sold. It can be accessed at https://www.fca.org.uk/news/statements/gpg-companies-preliminary-bankruptcy-proceedings.

Companies under the German Property Group are incorporated in Germany and have never been authorised by the FCA. However, consumers should be assured that the FCA are working closely with all relevant external stakeholders on this matter and will share any further updates as and when they are able to.

The FCA also hold a public record that shows details of firms, individuals and other bodies that are, or have been, regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and/or the FCA. Consumers who are considering an investment opportunity are encouraged to use the register to check the regulatory status of the firm in question ahead of transferring any funds. The register can be found here https://register.fca.org.uk/.

The FCA’s ScamSmart website also aims to help consumers protect themselves against investment scams, by allowing users to search a warning list to check an investment opportunity and report scams or unauthorised firms.

Reticulating Splines