British couple accuse financial services company of losing their £150,000 nest egg

A British couple have accused a Malta-registered financial services provider of misselling investment products to them, claiming to have lost £150,000 of their savings as a result of bad advice.

In a judicial protest filed in the First Hall of the Civil Court this morning, Andrew and Jennifer Downing accused Hollingsworth International Financial Services Ltd of failing in its duties under the EU Markets in Financial Instruments Directive and the Consumer Affairs Act.

In the protest, the couple argue that, despite having specifically instructed the firm to invest their money in low risk financial products, Hollingsworth had instead sold the Downings high risk “even speculative and illiquid” investments. The products which the couple had been sold had been far too complex for the plaintiffs, as inexperienced investors, to understand and the risks and characteristics of the products recommended. The suitability test carried out on Andrew Downing had been both “superficial and late,” and a similar test had not even been attempted on Jennifer Downing – in spite of the investments being made in the names of both.

The plaintiffs estimate their losses to be “substantial” in both capital and interest, in excess of £150,000.

The lawyers, urged the firm to liquidate and pay the damages suffered by the couple “as a result of the company's non-observance of the law, regulations currently in force and its duties – both fiduciary and otherwise.”

The protest is one of a number of similar judicial acts filed against several Malta-based investment and financial services companies in recent months. In some cases investors had lost pensions, others their life's savings.

Lawyers Stefano Filletti and Jasmine Abela signed the protest.