Tavistock acquired SFG in February 2015 and since that time has, with the approval of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), conducted a risk appraisal of all members of FL’s advisory network.
It emerged in July 2014 that FL had been banned from recruiting appointed representatives after it failed to ensure adequate controls were in place to minimise the risk of mis-selling.
Following the appraisal, Tavistock transferred the majority of FL’s members to a newly established network, Tavistock Financial Ltd.
The company also disposed of IL’s sub-scale investment management business and transferred all of FL and IL’s support staff and operations to its new network.
Trading profitably
The combined effect of these developments has reportedly reduced the operating costs of the network business by more than £1m (€1.37m, $1.55m) per annum, so that Tavistock Financial trades profitably.
Having secured the cancellation of regulatory permissions for FL and IL from the FCA, the final step in the integration process will be closing down SFG, FL, and IL.
Moore Stephens and Co has been appointed to act as the liquidator for each company.
“While the integration of these businesses into the Tavistock Investments Group has absorbed a considerable amount of management’s time over the past nine month, we are very pleased with the outcome and anticipate that the restructured business will contribute significantly to the company’s future profitability,” said Brian Raven, chief executive of Tavistock.
Tavistock now has a national network of 270 self-employed financial advisers and has secured the opportunity to offer the services of its investment management business.
