Advisers face 500 complaints over Ucis and film investments

Financial advisers could be hit with a hundreds of complaints over advice to invest in film schemes and unregulated collective investment schemes (Ucis), according to reports.

The Financial Times reported that nearly 500 investors were considering making a complaint against their adviser for allegedly mis-selling investments in film production companies and Ucis over the past decade.

The paper reported that unsophisticated investors had invested £2 billion of the £2.3 billion held in Ucis, and that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) estimated 114,000 out of 142,000 Ucis investors ‘may have been unlawfully promoted and/ or unsuitably recommended’ products.

Up to 3,000 firms marketed Ucis schemes, with almost four fifths breaching regulations when doing so, according to the FSA.

The FSA’s consultation on a clampdown of the sale of Ucis closes this week.