More than 3 000 investors in crowd-farming venture Livestock Wealth will have to wait a few weeks longer to hear if the Financial Sector Conduct Authority approves the investment and business model.
The company published a long rebuttal of the FSCA’s sudden interest in Livestock Wealth on its website, saying the FSCA refused to register the company as a financial services provider when it launched in 2015. “Livestock Wealth has always had a very warm relationship with the regulator. In July 2021 we were the main speaker at their event on Alternative Finance in SA. Later that year, we featured in their video of alternative finance where they hailed our position as leaders in this space.
Shezi says the FSCA requested that the company remove the FSP licence number from the Livestock Wealth website in October 2023.“On 24 January, we were taken by surprise by the press release saying we did not remove the FSP number from the site.“It still does not make sense how the regulator could issue public sanction about a request we had already complied with,” says Shezi.
“A directive from the FSCA would therefore have been of assistance, but we were told to wait for the outcome of the investigation.”Meanwhile, Livestock Wealth has been trying to reassure its investors through regular updates and by sending them additional information.