Apcims to demand increased action on boiler rooms

  • Story by: Catherine Neilan
  • Magazine: InvestmentAdviser
  • Published Thursday , May 15, 2008

The Association of Private Client Investment Managers and Stockbrokers (Apcims) will tomorrow (Friday 16 May) call on the government and the European Commission to ramp up Europe-wide action on boiler rooms, following a sharp increase in the number of complaints.

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David Bennett, chief executive of Apcims, said it was important to take a "two-pronged approach" to ensure firms using these tactics were tracked down and closed.

"There needs to be co-ordinated action between the FSA, consumer groups and trade associations to help inform UK nationals so they can protect themselves," he said.

Apcims said increasingly boiler rooms with impressive-sounding names and UK addresses were uncovered working from countries such as Spain, Switzerland, Dubai, Bermuda or the US.

The association welcomed the Financial Services Authority's (FSA's) first prosecution earlier this month, which helped investors reclaim more than £1m of assets.

"But this was the tip of an iceberg and, as the FSA have pointed out, it is very rare for the money stolen in such cases to be returned to its owners," Bennett added.

Boiler rooms are usually structured to prevent this, he explained.



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