The wheels of financial redress turn painfully slowly.
While there will be huge relief that the Financial Conduct Authority is in a position to give some sort of detail on the compensation that will be on offer to investors stuck in Neil Woodford’s Equity Income Fund, they are a long way from seeing it nestling in their bank accounts — even after more than 1400 days of waiting.
Judging by today’s otherwise welcome announcement from the FCA they may have to be patient for a while longer yet.
There are several significant legal and corporate hoops that have to be jumped through before the money can be paid out, including the completion of a sale that allows the funds to be released and a court sign-off.
So it seems probable that the four-year anniversary since the fund was suspended in 2019 will be marked — if not celebrated — before any champagne corks can be popped. It’s not quite Jarndyce v Jarndyce territory, but neither is it swift justice.
Even when it does come through, the redress will represent little more than three-quarters of the actual losses. Still, a lot better than nothing.
This has been a sorry saga from start to finish and it has to be hoped that lessons have been learned.
It is now incumbent on all parties involved to speed up the pace of administration, get this deal finally over the line and do the right thing by the 300,000 investors who have already waited so long. They are not getting any younger.
