BLEVINS FRANKS Financial Management Ltd, part of the Blevins Franks Group and a UK firm of independent financial advisers, has been granted a passport by the UK Financial Services Authority (FSA), under the appropriate EU Directives, to enable it to provide services to clients living in Portugal, France, Malta and Spain.
Blevins Franks has been trading since 1975 and was among the first UK independent financial advisers to be formally regulated in the UK, following the introduction of the UK Financial Services Act 1986. Other members of the Blevins Franks Group throughout Europe are also regulated by the appropriate authorities in each of the countries that they operate. Their regulators include the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, the Malta Financial Services Authority, the Central Bank of Cyprus and the Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority.
Blevins Franks Spain Wealth Management S.A. also operates in Spain advising high net worth individuals, under Spanish regulatory rules, acting as it does as an agent for a fully regulated and authorised Luxembourg based financial institution.
Other members of the Group include a firm of chartered accountants, mortgage brokers (including European and lifetime mortgages), pensions advice, tax advisory service (UK and international), insurance brokers (life, health and protection), offshore trust administration in Malta, fund management, financial services compliance advice to other regulated firms, and IT contractors accounting service. There are almost 200 people in the Group and, in August, due to continued expansion, they leased additional offices in Cornhill, London.
Chief executive and group compliance officer, David Franks, said earlier this week: “while an external and independent regulatory code is highly desirable in today’s complex financial world, an additional, essential component in protecting investors is a strict internal compliance regime within the advisory business itself.” He added: “we pride ourselves on a long track record of high quality and consistent discipline, in ensuring that our clients are the beneficiaries of internal management procedures designed to ensure that our recommendations and advice are entirely appropriate to their needs and suited to their individual circumstances, in every case.”
