The administrators of troubled wealth firm Dolfin Financial (UK) Ltd have agreed terms for 280 client agreements to be transferred to Britannia Global Markets.

Affected clients are being individually notified about the transfer by administrators Smith & Williamson.

The deal agreed by the Smith & Williamson team will see a large part of the Dolfin relationship management, execution and discretionary investment management team moving to Britannia.

Britannia is a full-service broker and dealer of securities, commodities, derivative financial products, F/X and funds. It is headquartered in the City of London.

Dolfin entered entered into administration at the end of June after having restrictions imposed by the Financial Conduct Authority in March.

Following an attempt to wind down solvently, the directors of Dolfin applied to the Court to place the firm into special administration.

In March the FCA imposed restrictions on Dolfin which stopped it from carrying out any regulated activities due to concerns about the way it conducted its business. The restrictions also prevented it from reducing the value of its assets or any of the client money or custody assets it holds without the consent of the FCA.

London-based Dolfin provided a number of wealth management services to retail and professional clients including securities, such as shares, government and corporate bonds, and investment funds.

As at the date of special administration appointment, the company employed 30 staff and had about 500 clients with underlying client monies of £120m and custody assets of £1.28bn.

Adam Stephens and Kevin Ley of Smith & Williamson were appointed joint special administrators of the firm at the start of the month. They are in the process of writing to clients and creditors, including explaining current restrictions to account access and details of how to make a claim against the firm.

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme is currently working with the joint special administrators to establish whether FSCS protection may exist for Dolfin’s clients.

Dolfin was founded as a London-based wealth boutique in 2013 and evolved into a diversified financial services firm with an international presence and a bespoke technology platform.

The FCA said it had identified a number of serious concerns around the way that Dolfin operated its business, including the firm’s Tier 1 investor visa business activities and financial crime controls.

The regulator had been working with Dolfin while it took steps to try and address the concerns, including imposing voluntary restrictions on its regulated activities on 24 December 2019, and commissioning a Skilled Persons Review.

However, following the conclusion of the Skilled Persons Review and other developments, the FCA said it has determined that it is in the interests of protecting the integrity of the UK financial system to stop the firm from carrying out regulated activities.