UK Bond Network transfers live book to another provider after closure
UK BOND Network (UKBN) has confirmed that live investments on its now-closed peer-to-peer bond auction platform will be managed by another regulated provider.
It emerged on Monday that UK Bond Network was no longer active, which it attributed to a change of focus after acquiring another company.
“There are outstanding bonds subscribed to via the UKBN platform,” director David von Dadelszen told Peer2Peer Finance News via email.
“We have arranged for another regulated firm to take over UKBN’s obligations to its customers – both bond issuers and investors – and they will manage them on an ongoing basis.”
UKBN has not yet revealed the name of the firm taking over its obligations.
Von Dadelszen explained that UKBN has acquired Torca Limited, which provides services to issuers of regulated assets that are maintained on distributed ledgers.
“While [UKBN] has closed, the legal entity and its regulated status persist,” said von Dadelszen. “We have been open and transparent in notifying the regulator of these changes to the business.”
The change in focus has been accompanied by a management overhaul.
Christopher Maule has exited as chief executive, to be replaced by Scott J Davies. Von Dadelszen remains as executive director, Scott Fletcher remains as non-executive chairman and Michael Embrey joins as executive director.
“It has been a pleasure to service our clients since 2013,” said von Dadelszen. “We are working with them now to facilitate a seamless transition; after which we look forward to setting our future plans into motion.”
UKBN launched in 2013 and gained full Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approval in 2016 before launching an Innovative Finance ISA in March 2017.