I have written an open letter to the InvestEngine CEO regarding what I believe is a breach of FCA COBS 6.1H by InvestEngine. It seems that the only way to move forward is to report this to the Financial Ombudsman.
Breach of FCA COBS 6.1H and One-Way Transfer Policy: InvestEngine appears to be in direct violation of FCA COBS 6.1H (COBS 6.1H Platform switching - FCA Handbook), which explicitly mandates that ISA/SIPP/GIA managers must allow customers to transfer their investments in-specie (as shares) out to another provider without forcing liquidation to cash, provided the receiving provider can accept those same investments. Specifically, COBS 6.1H.3 states that platform service providers must “offer the retail client the option to transfer units in investment funds that can be held by both the ceding platform service provider and the acquiring platform service provider…” This regulatory requirement has been in force since 2019. InvestEngine operates what appears to be a deliberately asymmetrical transfer policy—readily accepting in-specie transfers IN to increase assets under management, while obstructing in-specie transfers OUT through misrepresentation and misinformation. On April 14, Paul explicitly stated that InvestEngine “support[s] only cash transfers out at the moment,” a direct contradiction of your regulatory obligations under COBS 6.1H. Only after I threatened to escalate the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service did InvestEngine reluctantly agree to process an in-specie transfer, and even then, only to Freetrade specifically. I want to transfer out to other providers but at the moment Paul claims I can transfer out in-specie only to Freetrade.