Home REIT (HOME) says the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has closed its investigation and intends to take no further action against the company that remains the subject of a Serious Fraud Office probe.
The news come more than two-and-a-half years after the City regulator announced in February 2024 that it had begun an investigation into the former homeless accommodation provider covering 22 September 2020 to 3 January 2023.
This is the period from the publication of the prospectus for HOME’s £240m flotation in October 2020 up to the suspension of its shares following short seller Viceroy Research’s revelation of an over-valuation scandal at the company.
There was no reference in HOME’s statement to the SFO investigation in which six people were arrested in January. The FCA has not previously disclosed an inquiry into HOME’s former managers Alvarium and AlTi Re.
Shares in Home REIT, which returned from their 39-month suspension in April, rose 0.3p, or 3.7%, to 8.5p after the company said it had received a letter from the FCA yesterday evening. They peaked at 123p in August 2022.
HOME chair Michael O’Donnell said: “Following our extensive cooperation with the FCA’s investigation, we are pleased to announce that it has closed its investigation and intends to take no further action against the company.”
Earlier this month, law firm Harcus Parker issued High Court proceedings on behalf of 800 current and former HOME shareholders.
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