The Financial Services Compensation Scheme has compensated a further 754 clients of failed DFM firm Beaufort Securities, pushing the number so far paid out to 16,100.

The vast majority of Beaufort’s 17,500 clients have now received compensation from the FSCS which is funded by the financial services sector, including financial advisers.

The vast majority of individual Beaufort clients are not expected to suffer any loss.

The FSCS says that the 754 latest Beaufort clients to be helped have been moved to the stockbroker The Share Centre.

Assets and cash are being returned to them through a collaboration scheme organised by the FSCS and special administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

The victims were clients of Beaufort Asset Clearing Services Limited (BACSL) which provided clearing and custody services to Beaufort Securities Limited (BSL).  Both companies were placed in Special Administration by the High Court following an application by the UK regulators in March last year. 

This came shortly after the US Department of Justice brought criminal charges against BSL and a number of individuals for their alleged involvement in securities fraud and money laundering.

Mark Neale, FSCS’s chief executive, said: “Most Beaufort clients have now gained access to their money and assets, after months of hard work by FSCS and PwC. This tremendous achievement is thanks to the continuing collaborative approach by both organisations to ensure that most clients are now back on track.”

The collaborative work between FSCS and PwC means that over 16,100 of Beaufort’s 17,500 clients have received most of their money and assets such as ISAs and pensions. The remaining clients are affected by a variety of “more complex issues” around foreign assets and may have to wait “a bit longer” to be helped, said the FSCS.

In September 2018, just over 12,000 Beaufort clients were transferred to The Share Centre. In November a further 3,350 gained access to their cash and assets with 3,000 clients transferred to The Share Centre and 350 in Wales to AFH Private Wealth.