The Financial Conduct Authority has launched legal action against Neil Woodford and the former fund manager’s subscription-based platform W4.0.

The FCA alleges that Woodford and W4.0, the trading name of W Four Point Zero FZE LLC registered in the United Arab Emirates, are providing unauthorised regulated investment advice and financial promotions.   

The City regulator believes this breaches sections 19 and 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) and is seeking an injunction against Woodford and the firm.

Woodford launched W4 in June 2025 two months before the FCA fined Woodford £5.9m and imposed a £40m penalty on his former business Woodford Investment Management (WIM) for the crisis that led to the suspension of the Woodford Equity Income (WEIF) six years earlier, a scandal that trapped thousands of investors as its illiquid assets were sold and their money gradually returned.

The implosion of his business also saw him resign as manager of the Woodford Patient Capital Trust which was taken on by Schroders and subsequently renamed Schroders Capital Global Innovation (INOV) before shareholders voted to put it into a managed wind-down.

The former Invesco star’s main point of contact with the public is through the Woodford Views website where the former UK equity income fund manager has recently commented on the bid for Tate and Lyle, the Bank of England’s interest rate policy and UAE’s exit from oil cartel Opec.

W4.0 later said the FCA’s action was “regrettable”. “We do not accept the FCA’s characterisation of the service,” a spokesman told the Daily Mail.