The Financial Conduct Authority says it is close to making a decision on whether to take enforcement action over the gating of a fund run by former star fund manager Neil Woodford in 2019.
"We are now finalising our legal analysis with a view to making decisions as to whether to take action and, if so, what action should be taken and against whom," said Nikhil Rathi, chief executive of London's financial watchdog, in said in a letter to parliament's Treasury Select Committee.
The Woodford Equity Income Fund was suspended by fund administrator Link Fund Solutions in June 2019 due to an “increased level of redemptions”, with investors taking out over £550mln from the fund over the preceding four weeks and a request from Kent County Council to withdraw £250mln proving the final straw.
Two and a half years after the FCA opened its investigation Rathi said all key evidence had now been gathered.
"If any disciplinary action is taken, in the interests of fairness, we will be unable to identify who it is against and what the allegations are until certain stages have been completed. The timing of any outcome will also be contingent on whether the proceedings are contested."
Link Fund Solutions has also been taken to court over fund's collapse, with law firm Leigh Day issuing a claim form on behalf of an initial group of 100 investors out of the estimated 270,000 that were locked into the fund when it Link blocked withdrawals.
Lawyers claim that Link was in breach of FCA rules in the way it managed the fund and that this ultimately led to its collapse.
So far, roughly £2.5bn of the fund's investments has been given back to investors, with Link revealing last year that the value of the fund’s remaining assets had dwindled to £123.57mln after being written down from £288mln earlier in the year.