The Autorité des Marchés Financiers (The AMF) and Institut d’Emission d’Outre-Mer warn the public against the activities of the company PACIFIC TYCOON
The Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) and Institut d’Emission d’Outre-Mer (IEOM) hereby draw the attention of the public to the activities of the company PACIFIC TYCOON, headquartered at the following address: Level 10, World Wide House, 19 Des Vœux Road Central, Hong Kong.
This company advertises, notably in New Caledonia, for the acquisition of maritime containers to be rented out. PACIFIC TYCOON proposes two types of lease, one promising a guaranteed yield of 12% and the other, described as “aggressive” and offering a “high yield”.
In the light of the information at the disposal of the AMF and the IEOM, it would appear that PACIFIC TYCOON is proposing investments that fall within the scope of intermediation in miscellaneous assets.
The AMF and IEOM hereby warn you that the company PACIFIC TYCOON has not been authorised to propose investments in “miscellaneous assets”. Therefore, the information documents and “standard” contracts handed out to investors have not been examined by the AMF(1).
The AMF and IEOM therefore urge investors not to respond to the investment offers made by this company and not to pass them on to third parties in any form whatsoever.
As a general rule, before making an investment you should always check to make sure that the financial product being offered is authorised for distribution on French territory and that the financial intermediary offering you an investment of a financial nature is on at least one of the lists of the financial institutions authorised to do business in Metropolitan France or in overseas departments or territories:
- list of investment services providers (website:https:/www.regafi.fr/spip.php?rubrique3
- list of banking or financial direct marketers (website: www.demarcheurs-financiers.fr)
- list of financial investment advisors (FIA) and advisors of financial products (website: www.amf- france.org)
If the product or the intermediary in question is not on one of these lists, we strongly advise you not to respond to its offers, since it is in breach of the applicable legislation and is not required to comply with the basic rules of investor protection, due disclosure and claims handling.
(1) In addition to its remit of protecting savings invested in financial instruments, the AMF also regulates “intermediaries in miscellaneous assets” (see Article L 550-1 of the Monetary and Financial Code), meaning “1- any person who, (...) on a usual basis invites third parties to subscribe to life annuities or to acquire rights to movable or immovable assets when the purchasers do not perform the management thereof themselves or when the contract offers a buy-back or exchange option with revaluation of the capital invested; 2- any person who collects funds for this purpose; 3- any person responsible for the management of such assets”. By the terms of Article 550-3 of the Monetary and Financial Code, intermediaries in miscellaneous assets are required to draw up a “document to provide all information that might be useful to the public about the proposed operation, the person taking the initiative of the operation and the manager”.
Contacts: AMF: AMF Communication Directorate – Tel.: +33 (0)1 5345 6039 or +33 (0)1 5345 6028 IEOM Nouméa – Tel. (687) 27 58 22 – Fax (687) 27 65 53 – Email: mailto:agence@ieom.nc
The AMF and IEOM also recommend that you apply vigilance rules before making any investments. These rules are valid for financial products and all the more so for any products that do not fall within the scope of regulation:
- Whatever the sales pitch, never forget that there is no such thing as high yield without high risk. Any product claiming to offer yields exceeding money market rates (investors may use the rate of the Livret A as a reference) entails a significant risk;
- The information provided by your intermediary must be clear and easily understandable. The saying “Only invest in what you understand” will save you many disappointments;
- Make sure you get at least some basic information about the companies or intermediaries offering the product (corporate identity, home country, civil liability, organisation rules, etc.);
- Ask yourself how and by whom the valuation (purchase or sale price) of the product on offer was performed.
Finally, as non-financial products are not listed on a regulated market, the risk of there being no liquidity on resale of the product can be very high. It is essential that investors obtain precise information on the rules and mechanisms for resale of the product.
Publicatie datum:
11-07-2012