Woodford investors mounted a final hour opposition to a proposed £230mn compensation scheme, claiming the regulator had given them a "problematic" pattern of "misleading communications".
An open letter to the Financial Conduct Authority called on the City watchdog to withdraw a statement made in November, which said the redress scheme presented the best opportunity for investors to get their money back.
The letter was written by financial services campaigner Andy Agathangelou on behalf of the Woodford Campaign Group, which is made up of approximately 700 Woodford investors.
It came as investors were given a deadline of 5pm yesterday (December 4) to register to vote for the compensation package.
The vote will take place on December 13 and is expected to be announced by December 15. It requires the support of 75 per cent by value, and a majority in number, of the scheme creditors.
The letter reads: “The FCA has knowingly and wilfully misled, in an attempt to ensure the vote goes the way the FCA desperately needs it to, to avoid a substantial claim on the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
“For all these reasons we feel duty bound to challenge the FCA in relation to its problematic and persistent pattern of misleading communications connected to the Woodford scandal.”
The FCA confirmed it had received the letter from the group but did not comment further.
However, information about the scheme on the regulator's website reads: "The FCA appreciates there may be a possibility that alternatives to the scheme, including the FSCS, could theoretically enable some investors to recover more.
"Those alternatives are however deeply uncertain.
"Given the considerable uncertainty of outcome and the time that any alternative processes would take (potentially years), the FCA continues to consider that the scheme is the quickest and best chance for investors to obtain a better outcome than might otherwise be achieved."
The Woodford Equity Income fund, which at its peak was more than £10bn in size, was suspended on in June 2019 after struggling with outflows due to the fund's investments in illiquid assets.
Last week, Link Fund Solutions Limited, the administrator of the fund once run by Neil Woodford, urged former investors to sign up to vote on the redress scheme.
At the time, a spokesperson said: "We continue to believe the scheme is the best option available for investors, both materially enhancing the amount of redress available from LFSL and providing the fastest route for redress possible.
"Without the scheme there is no guarantee of any compensation for investors”.
tara.o'connor@ft.com
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