Trust Meridien / http://trustmeridien.com
This notice is issued by the Financial Supervision Commission (“the Commission”) in accordance with the powers conferred upon it under Section 22 of the Financial Supervision Act 1988.
The Meridien website www.trustshore.com has been brought to the attention of the Commission. Meridien through the website claims to offer banking, trust, corporate and investment services. It claims to do so from “Circular Road, Douglas, IM1 1AS, British Isles, United Kingdom.”
To offer banking, trust, corporate and investment services on or from the Isle of Man requires a licence from the Commission. Meridien is not licensed to conduct any of the claimed activities, and the Commission has no record of any application from Meridien for any licence. It is a criminal offence to offer, or claim to offer, banking, trust, corporate and investment services without the relevant licence.
The location Meridien claims to operate from, Circular Road, does exist. However, the relevant number of any supposed premises is not stated on the Meridien website, and the postcode IM1 1AH refers to an unrelated residential property elsewhere in Douglas. The telephone numbers stated for Meridien are not Isle of Man numbers.
The Commission would therefore warn that Meridien is not a legitimate financial services company on the Isle of Man, and that its website is in breach of Isle of Man legislation.
The Commission maintains a list of legitimate licensed financial institutions operating from the Isle of Man. The list can be viewed on the Commission home page by clicking on “Licenceholders” in the menu on the left hand side.
On other parts of the website, Meridien claims to operate from the Channel Island of Jersey, and to be a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in the United States. Both the Jersey Financial Services Commission and the FDIC have confirmed to the Commission that the claims made by Meridien are completely bogus. Further information can be obtained by contacting their respective Enforcement Divisions.
The Commission issued a Public Notice on 3 October 2002 regarding Trustshore Bank, which through its website was making a bogus claim to offer a wide range of financial services from the Isle of Man.
On the “Directors” page of the Meridien website, there are a number of photographs of the supposed directors of Meridien. Over the last few months the Commission has observed the same photographs used on a number of other bogus bank websites.
It should be noted that the properties of the photographs of “Paul Robinson” and “Vincent Castillas” on the Meridien site (which can be viewed by right clicking on the relevant photographs) show their origin to be the bogus Trustshore Bank website.
The Commission would urge any person considering doing business with Meridien to exercise the greatest possible caution, bearing in mind the content of this Public Notice.
Any queries about this Public Notice should be directed to the Enforcement Division on +44 1624 689312 or by email to fsc@gov.im.
FSC Reference: ASW/21/2003