The Financial Services Commission today welcomes the news that the
Supreme Court has granted a Winding-Up Order in respect of Fiduciaire ITP
Limited (FITP).
A liquidator has been appointed in order to wind up the company's affairs
and act in the interests of FITP's clients and their companies.
This follows a lengthy investigation by officers of the FSC into
unlicensed company management activities undertaken by FITP.
Under the powers set out in Schedule 10 of the Companies Act Kieran
Power, Head of Fiduciary Services Supervision and Albert Yome, Manager,
Enforcement at the FSC, were appointed as investigators, to report on the
affairs of the company.
Albert Yome said, "This brings towards a close an enforcement action that
the FSC began following the amendment to the Financial Services Act in
November 2002. This amendment expanded the ambit of "controlled activities"
to include the provision of company formation, administration, secretarial
services and registered office facilities.
FITP was providing such services to a large number of client companies
without a licence issued by the Financial Services Commissioner. It had
refused to answer repeated warnings issued by the FSC, which then sought to
resolve this issue through legal action."
The FSC takes a proactive approach to ensure that unauthorised activity
does not take place and to this end employs a person dedicated to enforcement
issues.
The FSC investigates all cases of possible unlicensed activity. It gathers intelligence on
such activities from complaints from individuals or institutions, and from
information passed to it from overseas regulators and other agencies.
The FSC monitors the Internet, news and other sources, to enable it to
detect and disrupt possible illegal activities in relation to financial
services at the earliest opportunity.
Locally the FSC co-operates closely with law enforcement agencies in the
prevention and detection of fraud and other economic crime.
It strongly recommends that prior to entering into any financial
agreements with a Gibraltar-registered company, or one that holds itself out
as operating in or from within Gibraltar, you should consult the list of
licensees on its website or contact our staff on telephone number +350 200 40283 or info@fsc.gi
If you believe that you are dealing with a company or individual that
appears to be carrying on financial services business without a license,
please contact the FSC immediately.