WIREDGOV

Further to our previous announcement in December, FSCS now expects to be in a position to start inviting claims against Catalyst Investment Group Ltd by the end of March.

As explained in previous updates, following an analysis of Catalyst's role as a distributor of the ARM bonds and the financial promotions which Catalyst was responsible for, we have reached the view that Catalyst may be liable for losses in many cases.

We are close to finalising the process under which claims against Catalyst will be investigated. Once the process has been finalised we will write to all known investors who bought ARM bonds inviting them to make a claim against Catalyst.

This will include investors who received advice from independent financial advisers (IFAs) based in Malta. Following an investigation into how the ARM bonds were distributed and sold in Malta, FSCS is satisfied that investors who dealt with Maltese IFAs will be able to claim against Catalyst in the same way as investors who dealt with UK IFAs.

Investors will be asked to complete an FSCS application form setting out their claim. The application form will ask the claimant to provide key information to support their claim such as details of the bonds they invested in, the firm that advised them to invest in ARM and why they decided to invest. The claimant will also be asked to send further evidence to support their claim, such as statements detailing the payments made into their ARM investment and any documents they relied upon when making the decision to invest. Investors who have provided this information to FSCS in the past will not need to re-submit the supporting evidence again. 

We will provide a further update on our website once we have started to contact ARM investors. Investors do not need to take any action in the meantime.

More information about Catalyst is available from our Q&As.