What is a collective investment scheme?
An unregulated collective investment scheme (‘UCIS’) is a CIS which has not been authorised or recognised by the FCA.
A UCIS may invest in riskier assets or use riskier investment strategies than an authorised or recognised scheme. As UCIS’s are not subject to regulation and restrictions under the FCA rules, they are by their very nature, high risk and highly speculative.
Whilst a UCIS is a high-risk investment option, they can be promoted to specific types of investors such as certified high net worth and sophisticated investors. A UCIS cannot be promoted to ordinary members of the public, however, unfortunately this continues to occur despite a number of warnings being issued by the FCA.
What are some examples of a UCIS?
A UCIS can take a variety of forms. Some of the types of investment opportunities Hugh James have experience of dealing with include:
- Hotel Rooms and suites
- Apartments
- Desk spaces in office buildings
- Rooms in care homes
- Storage units
Who can I bring a claim against?
Where property ownership is the subject of a UCIS, such as purchasing the leasehold ownership of a desk space in an office, it is highly likely that the expertise of a conveyancing solicitor would have been used to complete the transaction.
A solicitor has a duty of care to advise their clients as to the risks and legality of such a purchase. In fact, the Solicitors Regulation Authority has released a number of warnings to solicitors over the last decade warning against the involvement in UCIS’ and pointing out the red flags of such schemes.
Where a solicitor has failed to appropriately give warnings that the investment may be a UCIS, or if they have not ceased to act where there is any doubt about legitimacy of the transactions, then an investor may be able to bring a claim for professional negligence against that solicitor.
Why use Hugh James?
You can read all about our firm here, and below are just some of the reasons to trust us with your property investment scam claim:
- Our solicitors are and The Legal 500 independent guides in this area of law.
- We are a Top 100 UK law firm, with ambitions to reach the Top 50.
- We’re fully regulated by the Solicitors’ Regulation Authority.
- Our culture is based on the key values of hard work, exceptional talent, ambition, empathy, innovation and good humour.
- We have a strong sense of social responsibility, which extends to reducing our carbon footprint through specially designed offices and working with charities both locally and nationally.
- Founded in 1960, we have more than 60 years’ experience and can provide a wide range of specialist services and support.
- Hugh James has wealth of litigation experience dealing with high value complex financial investment cases
