The FCA has taken action against ex-fund manager Neil Woodford and W4.0, Mr Woodford's financial information website, for operating without authorisation.
The regulator says it has begun civil proceedings against Mr Neil Woodford and W4.0.
W4.0 is a subscription-based platform which provides regular market commentary and analysis of global sectors and economics, mainly from Mr Woodford.
The FCA alleges that Mr Woodford and W4.0 are providing regulated investment advice and making financial promotions through the subscription-based platform, www.w4pz.com, without authorisation.
The FCA says that in its view, the activity breaches sections 19 and 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA).
The FCA is seeking an injunction against Mr Woodford and W4.0 to stop them carrying on potentially unlawful activities.
W4.0 is the trading name of W Four Point Zero FZE LLC and is registered in the United Arab Emirates.
In August last year, the FCA provisionally fined Neil Woodford and his associated firm Woodford Investment Management (WIM) for failures in their management of the Woodford Equity Income Fund (WEIF).
The FCA decided to provisionally fine Mr Woodford £5,888,800 and ban him from holding senior manager roles and managing funds for retail investors. The FCA also decided to fine WIM £40m.
Mr Woodford and Woodford Investment Management referred the Decision Notices to the Upper Tribunal.
The FCA said at the time that any findings in the Decision Notices were therefore provisional and reflected the FCA’s belief as to what occurred and how it considers their behaviour should be characterised, the regulator said.
WEIF was an investment fund managed by Mr Woodford and WIM. The fund was suspended in June 2019, leaving investors – a significant majority of whom were ordinary retail customers – unable to access their money. The value of the WEIF had fallen from a high of over £10.1bn in May 2017 to £3.6bn in the run-up to its suspension.
The FCA concluded that between July 2018 and June 2019 WIM and Mr Woodford made unreasonable and inappropriate investment decisions.
In April 2024 the FCA published a warning notice against Neil Woodford. It said he had a "defective and unreasonably narrow" understanding of his responsibilities for managing liquidity risks. Soon after Mr Woodford launched his new website Woodford Views, he wrote: “I am neither hero nor villain.”
In a statement from Woodford's lawyers BCLP on behalf of Woodford Investment Management last year, there was a strong rejection of the FCA's action.