Dear [Replace this wording with the name of your MP],

I have written to you before on XXXXX regarding the GPG / Dolphin scam which has cost me a large part of my life savings. You may recall that the GPG ponzi scheme is one of the largest frauds ever perpetrated in Germany with some 1.4billion euros owing to creditors. In the UK it is believed some £250m is owed. What is not so generally known is that it was carried out using UK regulated institutions including banks, money handlers, pension administrators, independent financial advisers and a host of unregulated advisors, all earning large sums taken directly from unwitting investors.

The GPG Creditors Association has teamed up with the Transparency Task Force to attempt to put right some of the many wrongs within our Financial Industry so as to try to put a stop to this kind of fate befalling those in the future and to obtain redress and compensation for those already robbed of the financially secure future for which they worked so hard.

We have previously circulated a Dossier which sets out the main facts and includes references to reports produced by the German administrator. This Dossier may be downloaded here and our subsequent report to the FCA can be downloaded here.

In common with other scams there seems to have been a degree of failure on the part of the Regulatory authorities. By way of example the Transparency Task Force would draw your attention to this by reading the Faces of Financial Crime: | Transparency Task Force

which sets out the damage caused to victims and makes a reasoned case for change.

The Transparency Task Force are proposing to achieve these goals through significant amendments to the Financial Services and Markets Bill (to be brought into parliament during the next session https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3326), namely:-

• The removal of the FCA’s broad exemption from civil liability and the disapplication of the Limitation Act on historic claims for the first six years after it takes effect, combined with changes to its Complaints Scheme to make awards made by the Financial Regulators’ Complaints Commissioner binding on the regulators rather than advisory, and to bring the payment of redress for regulatory failure explicitly within scope.
• Improved governance of the FCA to make it more transparent and accountable to consumer interests, centred on the creation of the Financial Regulators’ Supervisory Council (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SxzWCpQghTik-nB7XsfQSNj2qSuKJPHp/view?usp=sharing), an oversight body based on that already introduced in Australia (https://fraa.gov.au/) following the conclusion of the Royal Commission (https://www.royalcommission.gov.au/banking) into financial services misconduct in that country.
• The introduction of a statutory duty of care to be owed by authorised firms to consumers (Parliament passed legislation (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2021/22/section/29/enacted) requiring the FCA to consult on such rules last year but the regulator chose instead to consult on and create lesser rules (https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/policy-statements/ps22-9-new-consumer-duty)which is why we believe the matter must now be taken out of its hands and dealt with by statute

I would be hugely grateful if you, as my MP, would lend your support to these proposals. Together, we believe they represent the quickest and most effective way to provide much needed compensation and justice to the many people affected by ineffective and at times conflicting financial services regulation and enforcement, while also addressing the unaccountability of both regulators and the firms that are the underlying causes. Given the imminent progression of the Financial Services and Markets Bill through Parliament, a once-in-a-generation opportunity exists to get such measures onto the statute book by amending Government sponsored legislation, and thus without the need for additional Parliamentary time.

Sadly, there really seems to be little reason to have any confidence in the FCA being willing and able to fix itself. It seems to be deflective, defensive and delusional, as evidenced yet again in an interview which Mark Steward, the FCA’s Head of Enforcement gave that resulted in this astonishing headline appearing in the Sunday Times on August 21st:

FCA: Don’t blame us for lost millions, blame the government

In the interview, in connection with Blackmore Bond victims, which is a recent example of a financial scam, Mark Steward made various claims suggesting that it was actually politicians that were to blame for its own failures that resulted in thousands of Blackmore Bond victims losing life-changing amounts of money. Mr. Steward even suggests it was the Blackmore Bond victims’ fault.

In the GPG case there are many parties that failed to carry out the necessary checks to protect consumers as set out in the Dossier evidence referred to above.

The GPG Creditors Association is primarily interested in redress for victims and we expect the FCA to investigate fully the actions of those regulated parties, taking necessary enforcement action and providing the compensation.

The FCA’s position that it’s everybody’s fault but theirs does not seem to be tenable.

Please let me know if you feel able to lend your name and support to these much-needed measures designed to deliver compensation and reform. The Transparency Task Force is collating responses from MPs on this matter so I would be grateful if you would include tina.kenyon@transparencytaskforce.org (Head of Special Projects at Transparency Task Force, cc’d) when you reply.

I would ask that I may have a personal consultation with you to discuss this matter further and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours sincerely,

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