Smith & Williamson team appointed Joint Special Administrators of Dolfin Financial (UK)

by | Jul 1, 2021

 

Smith & Williamson LLP has announced that Adam Stephens and Kevin Ley of Smith & Williamson LLP were appointed Joint Special Administrators of Dolfin Financial (UK) Ltd (“Dolfin” or “the Company”) on 30 June 2021.

Dolfin is an independent wealth management firm providing investment management, investment advisory, execution-only and custody services to a broad range of clients. As at the date of Special Administration appointment, the Company employed circa 30 staff and had circa 500 clients with underlying client monies of c£120m and custody assets of c£1.28bn.

On 12 March 2021, the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) imposed restrictions on Dolfin’s ability to conduct regulated activities.  Since this date, the Dolfin Board have been exploring all available options to fulfil their legal and regulatory obligations to establish an orderly wind down of Dolfin’s business and, subject to consent from the FCA, seek to undertake a transfer of client’s monies and assets to a new provider, if appropriate.

In early June 2021, due to a reassessment of the Company’s financial position in the light of progress with its wind down plan, the Dolfin Board concluded that the wind down could not be undertaken outside of a formal insolvency process.  Accordingly, and following professional advice, the Dolfin Board resolved to place Dolfin into Special Administration.  Concurrent with the above work, Dolfin has been to seeking to find a suitable successor service provider, and much work has been undertaken in the prior weeks in that regard.

Adam Stephens, Joint Special Administrator of Dolfin Financial (UK) and Partner at Smith & Williamson LLP commented: “The priority for the Joint Special Administrators is to identify, protect and in due course return client money and custody assets to clients in accordance with their interests.

“The Joint Special Administrators are continuing to hold detailed discussions with the intended acquirer with a view to finalising the terms of any transfer.”

Kevin Ley, Joint Special Administrator of Dolfin Financial (UK) and Director at Smith & Williamson LLP commented:  “We recognise that the present circumstances will understandably cause some uncertainty for clients and we thank them in advance for their patience and understanding while we work as quickly as possible to verify the company’s financial position.”

The Special Administrators have a dedicated telephone, website and email address for affected parties:

Telephone: 020 3763 8597 (Please note that telephone lines may be busy and you may not be able to speak to anyone immediately.)

Email: Dolfin@smithandwilliamson.com

Website:  https://smithandwilliamson.com/dolfin-financial

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