Mako Financial Markets Partnership LLP applied to leave the UK corporate register on August 20, Companies House filings show. The application came 18 months after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fined Mako £1.66 million (about $2.27 million).

The enforcement case and strike-off concern the same legal entity. The wider Mako group continues to operate through mako.com, where it describes its current business as providing liquidity to global derivatives markets, primarily through options market making. The website identifies the separate Mako Global Derivatives Partnership LLP as the FCA-authorized entity responsible for its UK communications.

Mako’s Companies House history lists a First Gazette notice dated September 1. The notice starts an objection period before dissolution can proceed; it does not close the partnership immediately.

Accounts Show Wind-Down Began in Early 2025

Mako Financial Markets historically offered execution and advisory services covering equities, fixed income and derivatives, trading both on exchanges and over the counter for professional and institutional clients. The firm closed its client-facing interdealer brokerage operation in 2020, while its latest accounts described its remaining principal activity as proprietary cash-equities trading.

Mako’s 2024 accounts show that management decided in early 2025 to wind down the partnership’s principal cash-equities trading. The LLP and its Irish branch were already in wind-down when the statements were approved in April 2025.

Irish employees were expected to move to a separate Irish branch of Mako Global Derivatives Partnership LLP. The accounts were prepared on a basis other than going concern because the regulated partnership was ceasing its principal activity.

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Net trading income rose to $350,000 in 2024 from $190,000. The annual loss narrowed 33% to $700,000 from $1.04 million, while net assets attributable to members stood at $6 million.

The balance sheet included $9.12 million of debtors, of which $7.17 million was due from members, and $237,000 of cash. Current liabilities totaled $1.28 million.

FCA Settlement Was Paid after Year-End

The accounts recorded a $2.08 million provision for an FCA investigation. They said the final settlement was communicated and paid after the reporting date.

In February 2025, the FCA fined Mako over controls connected with cum-ex trading. The £1.66 million penalty reflected a 30% settlement discount.

The regulator said Mako executed purported over-the-counter equity trades for Solo Group clients between December 2013 and November 2015. The trading included £68.6 billion of Danish equities and £23.6 billion of Belgian equities, generating about £1.45 million in commission for Mako.

“Mako failed to spot clear red flags and facilitated highly suspicious trading,” FCA enforcement director Therese Chambers said at the time.

The FCA described the trades as circular and said they were suggestive of financial crime. It also identified a third-party payment from a United Arab Emirates entity that Mako accepted without adequate due diligence.

The filings place the settlement and wind-down in the same 2025 reporting sequence. They do not state that the FCA action caused management to close the cash-equities business.

FinanceMagnates.com contacted Mako for comment on the strike-off application and whether the FCA settlement influenced the wind-down. This article will be updated if a response is received.

What Voluntary Strike-Off Means

A voluntary strike-off is an administrative dissolution route, not a formal insolvency process. UK guidance says an LLP normally must not have traded or carried on business during the previous three months, apart from activity needed to conclude its affairs.

A majority of members must authorize the application. Mako’s form was signed on behalf of members Mako Europe Ltd and Mako Cayman Holding Limited on August 18 and 19, respectively.

Creditors, employees, HM Revenue and Customs and other interested parties must receive a copy of the application. They can object after the notice is published. If no valid objection stops the process, a second Gazette notice dissolves the LLP at least two months later.

Any property or bank balance still held by the LLP at dissolution generally passes to the Crown. The procedure therefore does not remove unpaid obligations or prevent an interested party from challenging the closure.

This article was written by Damian Chmiel at www.financemagnates.com.AnalysisRead More

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