FSC issues Cease and Desist Order against World Wise

Posted on August 5, 2008 by investforlife

There is news that a Cease and Desist order has been issued against World Wise Partners. While information is sketchy it is understood that sometime this morning the order was issued.When contacted the FSC would not say much save and except that a statement would be issued later today.

World Wise had just re-opened after been closed for 2 months and had stated that accounts under $5000 would be closed and that no new deposits or members would be taken on at this time.

FSC Issues Cease and Desist Order to World Wise Partners Ltd./Noel Strachan

The Financial Services Commission (“FSC”) issued a Cease and Desist Order on Tuesday, August 5, 2008 to World Wise Partners Limited/Noel Strachan (“World Wise Partners”) pursuant to section 68 (1B) of the Securities Act.

The Cease and Desist Order issued by the FSC demands that World Wise Partners immediately stop conducting securities business including soliciting and accepting monies from the public. It should be noted that this Cease and Desist Order does not prevent World Wise Partners from paying outstanding amounts due to investors. Therefore no one can claim that the FSC’s Cease and Desist Order has stopped World Wise Partners from paying investors the amounts due to them.

The FSC’s decision to issue a Cease and Desist Order is based on the fact that World
Wise Partners has induced persons in Jamaica to enter into arrangements which are securities in the form of investment contracts. This was being done even though World Wise Partners is not a licensed securities dealer and its investment contracts have not been registered with the FSC. World Wise Partners has therefore engaged in securities activities in breach of sections 7, 10 and 26 of the Securities Act (“the Act”). Section 7 of the Act prohibits the carrying on of a securities business without being licensed as a securities dealer by the FSC. Section 10 prohibits an individual from carrying out the functions of a dealer’s representative without first being registered for that purpose by the FSC. Section 26 prohibits the issuance of securities without first applying to be registered by the FSC in respect of the securities.

In accordance with the Securities Act, entities that conduct or that propose to conduct securities business or offer investment advice to the public are required to be licensed, and issuers of securities are obliged to apply to the FSC to have their securities registered by the FSC before they are issued.

The FSC is once again advising investors to refrain from investing with or through persons who are not licensed or registered under the Securities Act.

Related

Filed under: World Wise | Tagged: , , | 28 Comments »

World Wise to re-open online today

Posted on August 5, 2008 by investforlife

After two (2) months of being closed, World Wise promises to re-open today but online only. On June 2, 2008, World Wise suddenly closed their doors leaving partners dumbfound and shocked. Many partners who did not get notice turned up at the Ruthven Road office of World Wise only to find it closed. In June 2008, the manager, at the time, also resigned pointing to poor record of accounts, poor accounting information, poor asset management; missing check leaves and staff problems including insubordination.

Reasons for closure
After months of reports of problems with payments World Wise had closed their doors. They stated that during the 2 months closure they would carry out audits of user accounts, install new software, re-located to bigger and more spacious offices and carry out staff training. They have also had their share of problems with the banks, and one is not sure if they have any account open with any bank in Jamaica. Their accounts at RBTT were closed in June 2008 following a short legal battle.

Tell us what we owe you
Following the June 2, 2008 closure, a letter was sent out asking partners to state how much they had deposited and how much the had withdrawn, principal and interest. This request was repeated in a letter released around July 16, 2008. For an investment house involved in Foreign Exchange, this is seems very strange. If a commercial bank was to make such a request of clients, the life span of that bank would be in question. Attention to details is critical and proper accounting is crucial to maintain investor confidence in a volatile market place.

Closing Some Accounts
Partners with principal invested between $300 and $5000 will have their accounts closed ‘in ascending order’. No definite time has been given when these partners will be paid just that they will be given an appointment date to come into World wise and then they will know when the money would be wired to their accounts.

Partners who have made requests for encashment will have to use the online Request Portal and must re-submit their requests.

Returns for July known from Mid July
In a letter dated July 18, 2008, World Wise announced that the gain for June was 4% while for July it would be 6%. This is interesting but one suspect that they will say it was a short trading period in July 2008

World Wise says that they will not be taking any new members or new deposits until they are regulated by the FSC. They also will only be allowing withdraw of principal once a quarter but monthly interest payments will continue.

An application by World Wise Investments is before the FSC. There is no application from World Wise Partners according to George Roper in an interview with a media house earlier this year.

World Wise in a letter to investors claims it will open the physical offices on August 31, 2008. It is not clear when monthly interest will begin and whether or not given the current alternative investment climate if partners will not all be making encashment requests.

Related:

N.B. We hope to hear from investors how things are going and you can let us know by sending us an e-mail at hyipmyths[at]yahoo[dot]com. Replace [at] with ‘@’ and [dot] with ‘.’ with out the quotes that is.

Filed under: World Wise | Tagged: , , , | 21 Comments »