‘Unusual aspects’ at investment firm Strand
The High Court has appointed joint provisional liquidators to an Athlone-based investment firm after an application by the Central Bank that followed what the regulator described as “unusual circumstances”.
The Central Bank said that it had asked for the appointments of Aiden Murphy and Declan Hanly of Crowe Ireland to protect clients of Strand Investments & Finance Limited (trading as 123 Financial Services).
Strand is authorised as an investment firm or intermediary under the Investment Intermediaries Act 1995 and as an insurance intermediary under the European Union (Insurance Distribution) Regulations 2018.
It had its registered office and was operating from 15 Castlemaine Street, Athlone, Co Westmeath.
Director’s death
The Central Bank said that it became aware of the death of the one of the firm’s directors, Bernard Kinahan, in September 2025.
It added that it had been engaging with Strand and its representatives on its business and to secure the interests of its 700 clients.
The regulator said that it become concerned by some “unusual aspects” of the case, including:
- An absence of ongoing governance or management of the daily activities of the firm since the death of Bernard Kinahan, and
- A number of apparently irregular transactions or activities undertaken in relation to some customer accounts that require further assessment and review.
On 10 December, the Central Bank suspended the provision of all regulated financial services by Strand, took custody of its books and records, and froze its accounts.
Customers to be contacted
A Central Bank statement said that the liquidators would contact all affected Strand customers as soon as possible to advise them of next steps.
They will also carry out a full assessment of Strand to establish the current position of clients’ investments.
“In many cases our expectation is that clients’ investments with their product provider will be intact and secure,” the regulator stated.
The Central Bank has published a question-and-answer section on the firm for consumers on its website.