THE Department of Enterprise and Employment has said it is "carrying out inquiries" into the Dublin based financial service company, Taylor Asset Managers.

The Department, which regulates investment intermediaries in the Republic, began its inquiries late last week after it learned the Irish Brokers' Association (IBA) had received complaints regarding the Taylor operation.

The Department acted after hearing of the IBA complaints and had not itself received any formal complaint regarding the company, the spokesman said.

The complaints are understood to relate to the management of funds belonging to two wealthy Irish clients, involving transactions dating back at least six years.

The company's managing director, Mr Tony Taylor, who sources believe is in Britain, could not be contacted yesterday. No one else at the company was available for comment.

A spokesman for the Department of Enterprise and Employment said an "authorised officer" was carrying out inquiries on its behalf to ensure the "operation of the company meets the requirements of the Investment Intermediaries Act".

IBA chief executive, Mr Paul Carty, confirmed yesterday that the association had received complaints relating to Taylor Asset Management and had requested "full and detailed answers" from the company. Mr Carty said the IBA would make no further comment on the matter until its inquires and those of the Department of Enterprise and Employment were complete.

An authorised officer of the Department has recently visited the premises of Taylor Asset Managers and taken copies of a number of documents for further evaluation. The Department spokesman would not say whether its representative had met Mr Taylor during the course of his inquiries. However, it is understood that no meeting with Mr Taylor has yet taken place.

According to the act, the authorised officer must produce an interim report within four weeks. On the basis of this report, the Department will decide what action, if any, should be taken.

The inquiry is thought to be the first under the Investment Intermediaries Act, which became law in August, 1995. Under the act, the financial services industry comes under the supervision of the Minister for Enterprise and Employment and the Central Bank.

Earlier this week, it emerged that Taylor Asset Managers had lost its key international partner, Fidelity Investments International. The British head quartered group, which is a sister company to the giant US Fidelity financial group, formally ended its relationship with Taylor last month. Fidelity, which had operated an exclusive agency agreement with Taylor, said it severed its links with the Dublin company because it wanted greater flexibility to market its products in the Republic.

Taylor Asset Managers, which was established by Mr Taylor in the mid 1970s, employs 12 people and is based at Clyde Road in Dublin. The company is one of the largest private managers of clients' funds in the State, outside of the major financial institutions. Most of the company's clients are wealthy individuals, who have substantial funds to invest. The company is thought to have up to £60 million under management in Ireland.