Warning on Unauthorised Firm - Blemain Loans/Blemain Finance (Clone)

The Central Bank of Ireland (‘Central Bank’) today 27 June 2019 published the name of an unauthorised firm, Blemain Loans/Blemain Finance (Ireland) – www.blemainloans.com (website no longer available) in order to warn the public that it is not authorised by the Central Bank to provide financial services.

Blemain Loans/Blemain Finance (Ireland) has been operating as a “retail credit firm” in the State in the absence of an appropriate authorisation. The unauthorised Blemain Loans/Blemain Finance has cloned part of the name of a firm called Blemain Finance Limited, which is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (‘FCA’) in the United Kingdom. The unauthorised Blemain Loans/Blemain Finance has also cloned the authorisation number of another firm that is also authorised by the FCA called Fidelity Works Ltd. It should be noted that there is no connection whatsoever between the unauthorised entity Blemain Loans/Blemain Finance and the two FCA authorised firms, Blemain Finance Limited and Fidelity Works Ltd, whose details have been cloned.

A list of unauthorised firms published to date is available on the Central Bank website.

It is a criminal offence for an unauthorised firm/person to provide financial services in Ireland that would require an authorisation under the relevant legislation, which the Central Bank is the responsible body for enforcing. Consumers should check the Central Bank registers online to find out if a firm/person they are dealing with is authorised. Consumers should be wary of advertisements offering loans from unauthorised firms or persons.

There are some general steps that individuals should take before dealing with firms/persons which purport to offer financial services:

• If you wish to obtain a financial product such as a loan, insurance, investment or pension, or if you wish to obtain a financial service such as investment advice, you should only deal with a Central Bank authorised firm/person – check our Register to see if the firm/person is authorised. Always access the Register from our website, rather than through links in emails or on a firm’s /person’s website.
• Always double-check the URL and contact details of a firm/person in case it is a ‘clone firm/person’ pretending to be an authorised firm/person, such as your bank or a genuine investment firm.
• Check the list of unauthorised firms. If the firm/person is not on our list, do not assume it is legitimate – it may not have been reported to the Central Bank yet.

Any person wishing to contact the Central Bank with information regarding such firms/persons may telephone (01) 224 4000. This line is also available to the public to check if a firm is authorised. Since obtaining the necessary legal powers in August 1998, the names of 351 unauthorised firms have been published by the Central Bank.

Notes

The name of the above firm is published under the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013.