Well done to Central Bank for taking action on Bespoke Investments

I made a formal complaint to the Central Bank about the way in which Bespoke Investments advertised and promoted the [broken link removed]The Central Bank does not give complainants feedback on their complaints, whether they are justified or not, or even whether or not, they have investigated them. But as the brochure has been changed, I assume that the Central Bank told them to change it. Of course, the Central Bank may have ignored my complaint and the company may have just changed the brochure anyway to reflect the analysis on Askaboutmoney

My complaint had three grounds

1) It is a misrepresentation and clearly in breach of the CPC to describe the charges as 0%
2) It is unfair in highlighting in the ad the figure of 6% deposit interest as that is payable only on a small part of the investment
3) The whole sales pitch of the brochure is completely over the top and likely to induce vulnerable consumers to invest in a bond which they can’t be expected to understand



Bespoke Investments replaced an ad on the front page of the Makets Section of the Sunday Business Post with an ad for their Trustee Services. This is very odd given that the bond closes on 31 March and they should be highlighting this product. I am guessing that the Central Bank told them to withdraw the ad as it was misleading - point 2) above.

Bespoke Investments has also changed the brochure.

They have removed the prominent reference to 6% on the front.

They have also changed the following text:

"0% will be used to secure the cash bonus which may be payable after 3 years 9 months

0% will be taken in charges".

It now reads

"3.34% will be used to secure the cash bonus which may be payable after 3 years 9 months

5.57% will be taken in charges"

This is hugely significant. They had been claiming that there was no charges on this product which I was astonished by.

But also the 3.34% allows us to see what lousy value this product really is.

They have not changed the sales pitch of the brochure, but I suppose 2 out of three aint bad.

I have made many complaints to the Financial Regualtor about the BCP Quadruple Growth Bond and they seemed to fall on deaf ears, so it's great to see a bit of action at last.

Brendan

It is good that the CB have been responsive. It was a pretty serious breach of the CPC to brazenly claim that there were no charges. Though I am unsure whether the "correction" which understates the charges by leaving out those of Ulster Bank might be even more misleading. People will tend to dismiss Nil charges as some sort of technicality whilst underdisclosed charges may make the product look more competitive than it actually is.

This all begs the question as to how compliant were the brochures of the previous 9 investment products which Bespoke launched.

Consistency would seem to dictate that if there has been similar blatant non compliance then each customer should be now given the correct information and a fresh "cooling off" period.

In any event it would seem to me that these customers will have a very strong case for invalidating their contract if their product does not deliver.

Duke of Marmalade said:

Consistency would seem to dictate that if there has been similar blatant non compliance then each customer should be now given the correct information and a fresh "cooling off" period.

In any event it would seem to me that these customers will have a very strong case for invalidating their contract if their product does not deliver.

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100% correct. But what are the chances of any of this happening. The Ulster Bank have remained very tight lipped on this although they have been made fully aware of the inconsistencies.

As in many cases the Financial Regulator and Financial Ombudsman have duly failed in acting in the cases of Financial Fraud. With the introduction of the new Regulator, the public were led under the impression that these kind of cases would cease in Ireland. Moreover, the Ombudsman's ofice is left to deal with these kind of complaints. Dealing and acting upon those that are paying to keep his office open !

Unless and Until this kind of Financial Misselling and in essence Financial Fraud incidents are dealt with in a coherent and absolute manner, the Internal Financial system in Ireland will continue to fail.

These systems and practices make me violently ill. The people concerned get away with this Scot Free and laughing at a half cocked system, whilst those effected are left to carry Investments which carry a major hangover.

In the words of Ben Dunne earlier today, although under separate circumstances, Fraudsters should be jailed, and the sooner the better, instead of rewarding themselves.