Central Bank issues warning on unauthorised firm

The Central Bank of Ireland has published a warning notice against a clone of a firm called Magna Umbrella Fund that holds no authorisation from the regulator.

The group has been operating as an investment firm/investment business in the State in the absence of appropriate authorisations, the Central Bank said on Monday.

This unauthorised firm cloned the name of Magna Umbrella Fund, which is a Central Bank-authorised fund and the name of the FCA-authorised entity, Fiera Capital (UK).

“It should be noted that there is no connection whatsoever between the unauthorised entity, Magna Umbrella Fund (Clone), and the Central Bank-authorised firm, Magna Umbrella Fund, nor the FCA-authorised entity, Fiera Capital (UK),” the regulator said.

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“It is a criminal offence for an unauthorised firm to provide financial services in Ireland that would require an authorisation under the relevant legislation that the Central Bank is the responsible body for enforcing.

“Consumers should be aware that if they deal with a firm that is not authorised, they are not eligible for compensation from the Investor Compensation Scheme.”

The regulator said fraudsters are increasingly using legitimate firms’ details to add “an air of legitimacy” to their fraud.

The fraudsters will “borrow” some or all of the legitimate information of an authorised/legitimate firm for the purpose of this fraud.

They may quote authorisation numbers/company registration numbers and links to seemingly legitimate websites and even provide the real address of an authorised/legitimate firm.

Consumers are advised to check our register to verify a firm’s details and to call the firm back directly using its advertised phone number.