An appeal by David Banner-Eve and Asset Land L.I. against the judgement that it ran an illegal land bank and operated a collective investment scheme without FSA authorisation has been dismissed on all counts by the Court of Appeal. Asset Land L.I. was a “land banking” firm, that sold plots of land in Stansted, Harrogate, Lutterworth, Newbury, Liphook and South Godstone as investments. Banner-Eve and his associates promised investors that, when the land obtained planning permission and was sold, they would make a significant profit within two to three years. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said the judgment makes clear the law around collective investment schemes (CIS), which require FCA authorisation, does apply to these types of scheme, adding that any effort to avoid authorisation on technical legal points will be unlikely to succeed.....Read more here