The investigative court reporting blog mouseinthecourt is providing coverage of the criminal trial brought by the Financial Conduct Authority against the directors of Collateral (UK) Ltd.
The defendants are Peter Currie, 59, and Andrew Currie, 57. Read the indictment here.
They have previously pleaded not guilty to two charges under the Fraud Act 2006, and one charge under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 at a court hearing in February 2022.
The trial at Southwark Crown Court started on Monday April 17th 2023 before His Honour Judge Griffith with a time estimate of five weeks.
Crowdfunding
Coverage of this trial has been generously funded from donations to our gofundme page.
Please consider supporting crowd-funded journalism of the peer-to-peer lending sector to allow more of the trial to be reported.
Case History
7th January 2022
FCA commences criminal proceedings against Collateral Directors
26th January 2022
Collateral Currie brothers appear in court following FCA action
23rd February 2022
Trial date set for Currie brothers
17th October 2022
Collateral Currie brothers trial on track as Case Management Hearing held
11th November 2022
Collateral Currie brothers trial update
11th January 2023
FCA Collateral Case – January Update
26th January 2023
FCA Collateral Case – 4th preliminary hearing concludes
The trial begins
Monday 17th April 2023 – Preliminary matters
Tuesday 18th April 2023 – Preliminary matters
Wednesday 19th April 2023 – Prosecution Opening
‘Collateral Directors “lied to their investors” jury told‘
Thursday 20th April 2023 – Investor + FCA Investigator
‘Collateral Directors had motive to lie to secure investments, jury told‘
Friday 21st April 2023 – Investor statements
‘FCA failed to pick up on false register entry for 22 months, jury told‘
Monday 24th April 2023
FCA: We had ‘access’ to the Collateral platform since October 2016
Tuesday 25th April 2023
AM: ‘Register change “would have been obvious to any case officer if the FCA had done their job” jury told‘
PM: Collateral Legal Advisor: The FCA “passed us from pillar to post throughout the process”
Wednesday 26th April 2023
‘Collateral advisor told directors: “We are not going to be able to fob this off”, jury hears‘
Thursday 27th April 2023
Collateral directors took £763k out of company after FCA identified breach, jury told
Friday 28th April 2023
Collateral director: “the FCA are looking for a scapegoat”, jury hears
[Court did not sit Mon – Wed]
Thursday 4th May 2023
AM: Jury hear the ‘agreed facts’ in Collateral FCA fraud case
PM: “The FCA was as clear as mud”, Collateral director tells jury
Friday 5th May 2023
Collateral Director: “We are in court now as a bit of deflection of blame from the FCA”, jury hears
[Court did not sit on Mon & Tues]
Wednesday 10th May 2023
Collateral Director tells jury: Rishi Sunak wants compensation for investors
Thursday 11th May 2023
The FCA “don’t fully understand P2P as a market”, jurors hear
Friday 12th May 2023
Peter Currie – “I wanted everything to be correct, above board.”
Monday 15th May 2023
Jurors given ‘route to verdict’ in Collateral Fraud trial
Tuesday 16th May 2023
FCA admits they “left the window to the car open and someone was able to reach in”, jury hears
Wednesday 17th May 2023
Judge tells jury: The FCA are not on trial
Thursday 18th – Monday 22nd May 2023
Jury considered verdict
Monday 22nd May 2023
Guilty verdicts returned in Collateral fraud trial
14th July 2023
Currie brothers jailed after Collateral fraud trial
Legal Teams
The Financial Conduct Authority are represented by barrister Stuart Biggs, assisted by Thomas Coke-Smyth.
Peter Currie is represented by barrister Colin Aylott KC, assisted by Ashley Hendron.
Andrew Currie is represented by barrister Henry Grunwald OBE KC, assisted by Oliver Renton.
Can I attend the hearing?
Yes, this is a public hearing and the courtroom has a public gallery for you to sit in.
The trial is being held in Courtroom 12 at Southwark Crown Court before His Honour Judge Griffith.
The hearing lists for Southwark Crown Court are published the evening before on courtserve.net. You will need to register a free account to gain access.
Expect to arrive at court half an hour before the start time to get through the airport style security and find your way to the court room. You should be able to enter the courtroom at any time provided you don’t disrupt proceedings.
Case details
Court 12 Southwark Crown Court
Before His Honour Judge Griffith
Case number: T20220056
CURRIE Andrew
CURRIE Peter
The work on this site is protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world. All such rights are reserved.
You may print off one copy, and may download extracts, of any page(s) from our site for your personal use and you may draw the attention of others within your organisation to content posted on our site.
You must not modify the paper or digital copies of any materials you have printed off or downloaded in any way, and you must not use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences or any graphics separately from any accompanying text.
Our status (and that of any identified contributors) as the authors of content on our site must always be acknowledged.
You must not use any part of the content on our site for commercial purposes without obtaining a licence to do so from us or our licensors.
Mouse in the Court 
23 thoughts on “FCA vs The Currie Bro’s: The Criminal Trial”