Regulations
By Steven Anderson
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The Free Route Nobody's Using. HMRC runs a free online tracing tool at GOV.UK. That's it.
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What the FCA's Review Will Actually Cover. The FCA has a review coming. It won't just be a box-ticking exercise, at least not on paper.
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Social Media Ads and the Fee Trap. The FCA's warning about fee-charging tracing services is probably the most practically useful part…
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Young adults across the UK are sitting on cash they don't know about. The Financial Conduct Authority is pushing hard to change that, warning that around 760,000 Child Trust…
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The timing isn't random. Back-to-college season means a lot of 18-year-olds are suddenly thinking about rent deposits, laptops, textbooks.
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HMRC runs a free online tracing tool at GOV.UK. That's it. Proof of identity, a few minutes, no fees.
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The catch? Some companies — a lot of them advertising heavily on social media — offer to locate these funds for a fee. The FCA isn't saying those firms are all bad actors.
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The Child Trust Fund scheme opened around 6.3 million accounts for children born between September 2002 and January 2011.
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Read also: UK Targets A7 Network in Major Push Against Russias $86 Billion Evasion Scheme
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That last part matters more than it might seem. "Vulnerable" in this context can mean a lot of things — young people with disabilities, those in care, those without…
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Findings are expected next year. No firm date given. The review could lead to changes in how these accounts are managed and how firms are required to reach out to account holders…
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The broader number is worth sitting with for a second. Six point three million accounts opened. Around 760,000 still unclaimed after maturity. That's not a rounding error.
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FCA-regulated firms can offer tracing services. That's allowed. But the service itself isn't a regulated activity, which creates a gap.
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More context: HMRC Reveals 240 Crypto Millionaires Declared £717 Million in Gains
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The FCA's advice is pretty simple: use the free tool first. If you want help beyond that, at least go in knowing that any fees you pay are essentially optional, and that the…
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