SFO shuts Keydata probe

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has officially ended attempts to trace the assets of Keydata bond manager SLS Capital SA, after a lack of success.

In an update to investors on 2 November, the SFO said substantial efforts to trace the assets of SLS and David Elias, the company's operator, had proven fruitless and "it is considered unlikely that the situation will change". The SFO began investigating Keydata Investment Services in July 2009 following a referral by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). The FSA applied for Keydata to be put into administration because Keydata had been found to have sold products it incorrectly claimed qualifed for ISA status. Keydata investors had invested more than £100m in secure income bonds...