Mako Financial Markets Files for UK Dissolution 18 Months After £1.66M FCA Fine

​Mako Financial Markets Partnership LLP applied to leave the UK corporate register on August 20, Companies House filings show, 18 months after the Financial Conduct Authority 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, providing liquidity to global derivatives markets, primarily through options market making. The website identifies Mako Global Derivatives Partnership LLP as the FCA‑authorized entity responsible for its UK communications. A First Gazette notice dated September 1 starts an objection period before dissolution can proceed.

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. Net trading income rose to $350,000 in 2024 from $190,000, the annual loss narrowed 33% to $700,000 from $1.04 million, and net assets attributable to members stood at $6 million. The balance sheet included $9.12 million of debtors, $237,000 of cash, and current liabilities of $1.28 million.

The accounts recorded a $2.08 million provision for an FCA investigation, with the final settlement communicated and paid after the reporting date. In February 2025, the FCA fined Mako over controls connected with cum‑ex trading, with the £1.66 million penalty reflecting 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, including £68.6 billion of Danish equities and £23.6 billion of Belgian equities, generating about £1.45 million in commission. “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 suggestive of financial crime, and identified a third‑party payment from a UAE entity that Mako accepted without adequate due diligence.

A voluntary strike‑off is an administrative dissolution route, not a formal insolvency process. UK guidance says an LLP normally must not have traded 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 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 and 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 at dissolution generally passes to the Crown.