‘We do not accept the FCA’s characterisation’: Neil Woodford firm responds to watchdog
Former star fund manager Neil Woodford’s comeback venture has hit back at the UK financial watchdog, arguing it ‘does not accept’ the regulator’s characterisation of the business after the FCA launched civil proceedings.
W Four Point Zero FZE, which trades as W4.0 and is registered in the United Arab Emirates, rebuffed the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) decision to commence a civil claim against the firm and Woodford, expressing surprise that it announced its intention publicly.
In a statement released on Tuesday, W4.0 said: “We are surprised the FCA chose to announce this publicly before any proceedings have been served on us, and before the dialogue we have been engaged in for the past nine months was concluded.
“Throughout our dialogue with the FCA, we have worked to understand precisely which features of the service it considers fall within the regulatory perimeter. At each stage, we made changes and adjustments in response to accommodate the FCA. We have continued to engage with it to seek a resolution. We would have continued the dialogue, and it is regrettable that the FCA has chosen to litigate instead.”
FCA allegations
The FCA alleges that Woodford and W4.0 are providing investment advice and making financial promotions through its subscription based platform, w4pz.com, without authorisation.
The regulator said on Monday: “In the FCA’s view, the activity breaches sections 19 and 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA).
“The FCA is seeking an injunction against Mr Woodford and W4.0 to stop them carrying on the potentially unlawful activities.”
The claims follow the regulator engaging with Woodford over whether his activities require authorisation, warning last August that if so, “he’d need to apply to us or risk breaking the law”.
But W4.0, which offers subscribers information on portfolios of stocks assembled by Woodford, claimed it was “clear about W4.0’s purpose from the start”, providing research, analysis and commentary and that any investor needs “to make their own decisions”.
W4.0 said: “We deliberately informed readers that we were not regulated and did not provide financial advice. Like other publishers and platforms offering this kind of information, it was built to sit outside the regulatory perimeter, and we remain confident that it does.
“Consequently, we do not accept the FCA’s characterisation of the service.”
Collapse of WIM
Woodford launched his latest venture in 2025, before the FCA fined him and his previous firm, Woodford Investment Management (WIM), £46m last August, for “failures” in managing his equity income fund.
Investors attempted to withdraw cash faster than the fund could pay out over concerns surrounding its high exposure to illiquid and unquoted shares.
The fund’s sale of liquid assets and acquisition of illiquid ones meant WEI was unable to meet rules in place at the time, which stated investors should have been able to access their funds within four days.
The FCA determined that Woodford and the fund “made unreasonable and inappropriate investment decisions” between July 2018 and June 2019.
Woodford was fined £5.9m, while WIM was slapped with a £40m fine.