Smith & Williamson LLP, joint administrators of defunct mini bond firm London Capital & Finance PLC, delayed issuing a dividend to LCF investors after taking into account advice from its specialist oil and gas advisers, City A.M. reported Aug. 28, citing an administrators report.
The administrators previously planned to pay out an initial dividend from one of LCF's investments, Independent Oil & Gas, by the end of summer in September — the first dividend since the firm's collapse. Smith & Williamson added that it intends to realize the return from the aforementioned investment in an "orderly fashion," the newspaper reported.
LCF went into administration with £236 million in losses from investments in so-called mini-bonds, sparking a criminal and regulatory probe. Administrators estimate that bondholders will get back as little as 25% of their investment in the collapsed company, the report noted.
According to the report, Smith & Williamson said the investigations will likely take multiple years to conclude because of the convoluted nature of the case. The joint administrators also said they are facing a "concerted and very likely coordinated exercise on the part of a number of individuals aimed at frustrating the joint administrators' inquiries, for their own reasons."
LCF Principal Director Andy Thompson claimed via solicitors that he was too unwell to assist the administrators with their inquiry, the report said.
