The director of a fake binary options company who defrauded 42 victims out of £475,000 has been jailed.

In a case brought by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), five individuals have been sentenced to a total of 17 and a half years’ imprisonment for their roles in a share fraud carried out through a series of boiler room companies, which led to the loss of more than £2.8m of investors’ money.

A firm owned by jailed sex offender adviser Frank Cochran has appointed a trainee IFA as its new director and has changed its address.

PIMFA, which represents 1,000 wealth managers and financial advisers, has co-launched a new intelligence sharing platform to prevent financial crime.