UK watchdog secures $101 million redress for BlueCrest fund investors
UK watchdog secures $101 million redress for BlueCrest fund investors
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on October 14, 2025
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on October 14, 2025
By Kirstin Ridley
(Reuters) -Britain's Financial Conduct Authority on Tuesday secured $101 million in redress for investors in a fund sub-managed by BlueCrest Capital Management and imposed a public censure on the investment firm, marking an end to a drawn-out battle.
The FCA said BlueCrest, the investment firm co-founded by billionaire Michael Platt, had failed to deal fairly with a conflict of interest when managing an investment fund for the benefit of its partners and employees and a flagship fund available to external investors between 2011 and 2015.
The level of redress is a fraction of the estimated $700 million the markets regulator had initially sought, alongside a proposed 41 million-pound penalty. But the deal brought a positive end to a long-running case, the FCA's co-head of enforcement, Therese Chambers, said.
"BlueCrest put its own interest ahead of the external fund and provided a substandard service, which meant that investors lost out," she noted.
A spokesperson for BlueCrest said the firm did not accept the findings set out by the FCA.
But they added: "Given the significant amount of time that has elapsed since the events at issue and in order to draw a line under the matter, BlueCrest has agreed a settlement with the FCA."
The redress is for non-U.S. investors, who were not eligible for compensation under a similar U.S. scheme.
BlueCrest had attempted to strike out the FCA's case but the Court of Appeal reinstated the proposal last year. BlueCrest has withdrawn a subsequent appeal to the UK Supreme Court.
(Reporting by Kirstin Ridley in London and Yamini Kalia in BengaluruEditing by Shinjini Ganguli, Bernadette Baum and Frances Kerry)