Questions over Circuit ofWales firm’s listing in official register
AN MP wants to know why the company that would have channelled funding to the Circuit of Wales project still appears on the official register of firms able to offer financial services when it has agreed not to carry out such business.
The plan to build a £430m motorsport racetrack on moorland above Ebbw Vale stalled last June when the Welsh Government’s cabinet decided against providing it with a financial guarantee of £210m.
Supporters of the project claimed it could create 6,000 jobs, but due diligence reports commissioned by the Welsh Government said the likely figure was far less.
Last month Aventa Capital Partners, a firm owned by Circuit of Wales frontman Michael Carrick, agreed an arrangement with its creditors under which they would be paid off in instalments between 2020 -24.
At the time the arrangement was drafted, Aventa owed a total of more than £2.8m, the largest single amount of £720,000 being owed to Mr Carrick himself, with four consultants to the project owed £510,000 between them.
HMRC was owed £26,421 for VAT and £2,554 for Corporation Tax. Among the other creditors was City regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), owed £2,247.
Aventa is an FCA-regulated company. Its entry on the online Financial Services Register, administered by the FCA, states: “This is a firm that is given permission to provide regulated products and services.” The services involved include “accepting deposits, providing credit to consumers, giving investment advice, arranging deals in investments”.
David Davies, the Conservative MP for Monmouth, said he was “astonished” that while the chief executive of the FCA had told him Aventa had voluntarily agreed to not to provide regulated services, the register continued to describe it as a company authorised to do so.
In a letter to Mr Davies, Andrew Bailey, the FCA’s chief executive, said: “As of February 8, 2016, Aventa agreed to cease conducting any regulated activities and is not able to conduct any regulated business until the voluntary requirement (VREQ) they have entered into has been lifted. This is reflected on the Financial Services Register, which is a public record of firms and individuals regulated by the FCA.”
Mr Bailey added: “We take all allegations we receive seriously and will investigate matters where we believe there is potential for harm to consumers.
“We have looked into the issues concerning Aventa and we consider that the VREQ is the appropriate course of action.”
Mr Davies said: “The fact is that according to the Financial Services Register, Aventa remains a company authorised to provide financial services. There is nothing in the entry to suggest otherwise, despite the fact that it owes a very large amount of money, including some to the FCA itself.
“I have tabled a question to the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, asking whether an assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the FCA’s ability to regulate financial companies. It is my intention to ask him a follow-up question relating specifically to Aventa.”
A spokesman for Aventa Capital Partners said: “Aventa has been fully engaged with the team at the FCA and has agreed a voluntary suspension of its permissions and that it will not undertake regulated activity. FCA are satisfied with this approach.”