The UK FCA is suing Neil Woodford for allegedly providing unauthorized investment advice online through W4.0, a UAE-registered company. This legal action follows Woodford's ban from managing funds for retail investors after his equity fund collapsed in 2019.
Mentioned in this story
The UK financial regulator is taking legal action against the former investment star Neil Woodford for allegedly offering unauthorised investment advice online, months after being banned from the City.
The Financial Conduct Authority said it was seeking an injunction against Woodford and W4.0, a United Arab Emirates-registered company, to stop them carrying out “potentially unlawful activities”.
“The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has started civil proceedings against Mr Neil Woodford and W4.0,” the regulator said in a short statement on Monday afternoon. “The FCA alleges that Mr Woodford and W4.0 are providing regulated investment advice and making financial promotions through the subscription-based platform, www.w4pz.com, without authorisation.”
It comes a year after the FCA banned Woodford from holding senior manager roles and managing funds for retail investors in the UK as a result of the collapse of his popular equity fund in 2019.
Woodford’s equity fund was worth more than £10bn at its peak, but suffered from several poorly performing investments in companies including the estate agent Purplebricks, the finance company Burford Capital and the doorstep lender Provident Financial. That string of bad bets, combined with Woodford’s decision to put money in a number of private unlisted companies that were harder to sell, led to the fund’s suspension and eventual collapse in 2019.
Woodford resigned in mid-October 2019 and subsequently closed his investment company. Administrators later wound down the fund and returned money to many of its 30,000 investors at a steep loss. Woodford and his investment company were eventually fined a total of £46m by the regulator in 2025.
However, Woodford re-emerged last year to announce he was launching a subscription-based investment service called W4.0 that would allow investors to download and enact his strategies via their own accounts.
Woodford wrote on his blog at the time: “Because we’re not bound by the constraints of fund launches or minimum sizes, I can share more strategies, more ideas, and more updates than would ever be possible in a traditional fund structure.”
“W4.0 is like having by your side,” the marketing materials said.
The FCA is suing Neil Woodford for allegedly offering unauthorized investment advice and making financial promotions without authorization through his platform, www.w4pz.com.
Neil Woodford's equity fund, which peaked at over £10bn, collapsed in 2019 due to poor investments and a decision to invest in hard-to-sell private companies.
Prior to the lawsuit, the FCA banned Neil Woodford from holding senior manager roles and managing funds for retail investors in the UK due to the collapse of his equity fund.
France's cyber-security agency has accused Israeli firm BlackCore of interfering in Scottish elections by targeting First Minister John Swinney. The firm allegedly used proxy social media accounts for disinformation campaigns in multiple countries.
One year since the Air India Flight 171 crash, families hold vigils and prayers.
Israeli tech firm BlackCore allegedly targeted John Swinney with disinformation ahead of the Holyrood election.
Keir Starmer insists he's not going away after defence secretary's exit.
Trump claims a US-Iran deal is imminent, potentially ending Gulf conflict.
Southwark Council has taken possession of a property linked to Sierra Leone's First Lady, Fatima Bio, after a year-long investigation. This follows her recent comments about the property during a BBC interview.
See every story in News — including breaking news and analysis.
According to the City watchdog, the parent company of W4.0, W Four Point Zero FZE LLC, is registered in the United Arab Emirates.
The Guardian was not able to immediately reach Woodford for comment.