On 18 June 2024, LCC Trans-Sending Limited entered special administration under the Payment Institutions and Electronic Money Insolvency Regulations 2021.
Payment services company LCC entered special administration on 18 June 2024 and has now ceased trading.
Christine Mary Laverty, Russell Simpson and Jarred Erceg of Grant Thornton UK LLP, have been appointed as joint special administrators.
LCC is authorized and regulated by the FCA to provide payment services, specifically money remittance services, under the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (PSRs).
LCC trades as:
- Small World Money Transfer
- Small World Financial Services
- Express Funds
- World Association
- Bayba (United Kingdom)
It is also supervised by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for money laundering purposes.
On June 10, 2024, LCC closed for new business and stopped accepting funds from customers.
Once informed of LCC’s situation, the FCA took action to protect consumers. On 13 June 2024, LCC signed an undertaking that it would not:
- new customers on board
- onboard or register new agents
- accept new funds from existing customers
If you have money with LCC or have used one of LCC’s agents and are having trouble accessing your money, you should first visit the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) at the shared site of expert administrators.
If you still have questions, you can contact the Small World customer service team.
- Phone: +44 (0)20 3198 0387
- Email: support@smallworldfs.com
The Payment and Electronic Money Institutions Insolvency Regulations 2021 introduced a new special management regime for payment and electronic money institutions. A special administration is similar to an ordinary administration – however special administrators have an additional goal of returning clients’ money as quickly as possible.
In the case of LCCs, consumer funds are not protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The FSCS only applies to certain types of activity. This does not include payment services. Under the PSRs, which regulated payment companies must comply with, there are requirements on how customers’ money is protected and these requirements are known as ‘safeguarding’.
Where the LCC provided regulated payment services (in particular, money remittance services), appropriate arrangements were required to be in place to protect customer funds. How these client funds must be protected is set out in the PSRs and referred to as secured funds.
There are a number of ways in which a payment institution can safeguard customer funds – however, the safeguarding requirements apply to the LCC’s regulated money remittance activities and the LCC must comply with them at all times.
Safeguarding is a key consumer protection measure under PSRs. The purpose of collateral is to protect clients’ funds in the event of a business failure. The joint specialist managers will carry out an assessment of all funds held by LCC to determine which are protected for clients.
After the special administration order, the joint special administrators are responsible for the LCC, but the LCC is still authorized by the FCA.
Joint special trustees are officers of the court and must comply with all insolvency laws. Appointed persons are authorized to act as licensed insolvency practitioners. Joint specialist managers have statutory objectives which include working with authorities, including the FCA.