The firm had already taken legal action following the original ombudsman decision of 2014. Berkeley Burke maintained it had not given any advice and said it intended to seek judicial review of the ombudsman’s decision.
Ombudsman Decision
It was then agreed that the client’s complaint would be reconsidered by another ombudsman without the need for a formal court order quashing the decision.
A new ombudsman found in favour of the client in February 2017 and the decision was accepted. Berkeley Burke then attempted to appeal the ruling via an arbitration appeal process in 2017.
This was only recently blocked by a High Court judge leaving the provider with no choice but to seek another judicial review.
It has now been confirmed that a three-day hearing is scheduled to begin in London on 10 October 2018.
High Risk Investments
The issue relates to investors alleging that pensions were sold through unregulated separate introducers, with the idea of investments being made into high risk investments such as Harlequin Property, Store Pods , Sustainable Agro Energy just to name a few.
We are looking forward to hearing the ruling – which will hopefully support the people who have lost millions of pounds in this market through other SIPP providers too!