February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Andrew Bushe
DUBLIN — Because of the booming economy, Irish investors are being increasingly targeted by foreign firms offering investment advice, so the Central Bank has issued their version of a "buyer beware" warning.
The bank urged people to deal only with authorized firms and warned that clients of those who had not received registration clearance from them would not be eligible for the investment compensation scheme if anything went wrong.
The bank also pointed out that "cold-calling" clients was illegal under the Investment Intermediaries Act.
Three types of unauthorized firms have come to the attention of the bank: foreign firms without a physical presence in the state, Irish registered firms operating outside the jurisdiction and Irish registered and domiciled firms providing services in the state.
In the last eight months alone the bank has issued warning notices in respect of 14 firms trading from the U.S., Cyprus, Belize, Isr’l, Spain, the Philippines, Panama, Switzerland and the British Virgin Islands.
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Bank spokesman Neil Whoriskey said people were being approached with offers of investments of tens of thousands of pounds but most were for lesser sums.
"We have had dozens of people contacting us," he said. "We would urge members of the public to contact us and we will let them known immediately if the firm they are dealing is authorized."