Link receives first formal letter triggering litigation over Woodford debacle

ACD stands accused of allowing excessive investments in inappropriate assets

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Link Fund Solutions has received its first pre-action letter in relation to a lawsuit from Woodford Equity Income investors.

Harcus Parker said more than 8,000 former investors have expressed interest in joining a lawsuit against the authorised corporate director (ACD) and hundreds have already signed up, according to Bloomberg.

The law firm has now sent Link a so-called pre-action letter, which is required in the UK to trigger the litigation process.

Harcus Parker accused Link of “alleged indefensible negligence in handling of up to 300,000 people’s investments” and told the ACD it had sanctioned excessive investments in “inappropriate illiquid and/or impermissible assets” and “exposed the fund to concentrated risk”.

In June, Nelsons became the first law firm to announce it was examining possible legal claims against Link over the former Woodford Equity Income fund, which has been renamed LF Equity Income during its wind down.

Slater and Gordon, which began examining a case against Hargreaves Lansdown for its Woodford cheerleading in October, has also extended its investigation to Link. It has already decided that Hargreaves has a case to answer for.

Leigh Day was the first law firm to launch an investigation into a potential class action involving Woodford Equity Income investors. It announced in October it would be focusing its attention on Hargreaves and received a stream of inquiries from disgruntled Hargreaves clients.

RGL Management and Wallace LLP are also working together on a case against Hargreaves, claiming the platform knew of liquidity issues in WEIF from November 2017 yet continued to promote the fund in its buy list.

See also: FCA accused of lacking bite as it fails to hold anyone to account for Woodford scandal