Sequant Capital Ltd was placed into liquidation on 19 September 2018 and FSCS declared it in default on 5 February 2019.
Sequant Capital Ltd offered clients the ‘opportunity’ to purchase unlisted shares in a company called Oxford Renewable Fuel Ltd. Oxford Renewable Fuel was advertised as a market leader in renewable energy, producing commercial quantities of biofuel.
Oxford Renewable Fuel raised £7 million from around 340 investors through various introducers and several Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs), including Sequant Capital Ltd.
We are also aware of several other unlisted company shares that may have been sold by regulated IFAs and Sequant Capital Ltd in a similar way to Oxford Renewable Fuel Ltd:
Otreus Oil and Gas Company Ltd;
Crescent Energy Ltd; and
Palmetto Energy plc.
Sequant Capital Ltd formerly Central Markets (London) Ltdalso advised many clients to invest in high-risk investments such as CFDs (Contract for Difference). Often, encouraging clients to liquidate large stock portfolios to in turn trade these high-risk derivatives. Investments in Contracts for Difference (CFDs) are different to investing in normal stocks and shares.
Instead of investing your money into the actual share (like buying shares in a company) and making money by waiting for the price to rise in value, Contracts for Difference are akin tobetting on whether the price of the share will rise or fall. In fact, with CFDs, you can lose more money than you bet!
CFD trading can be traded directly through a CFD provider, and in other cases, they may be invested in as part of a pension such as a SIPP. Firms like Sequant Capital Ltd formerly Central Markets (London) Ltd would have a Power of Attorney over the CFD Account to allow them to trade on your behalf.
Contract for Difference (CFD’s) are complex financial derivatives, and they are also high-risk. They may not be suitable for many clients, especially considering some people are advised either to invest their whole pension funds into them or whatever cash savings they may have!
