Royal Horseguards Hotel Royal Horseguards Hotel The Royal Horseguards Hotel is a 5-star London hotel situated in the area of Whitehall. It is operated by Guoman Hotels, a subsidiary of Thistle Hotels. Whitehall Court was constructed as a block of luxury residential apartments in 1884 by the Liberal MP and property developer Jabez Balfour. The building's construction was the centrepiece of an elaborate pyramid scheme for fraud by Balfour, through the Liberator Building Society which he controlled. In 1892 the Society collapsed, leaving thousands of investors penniless. Instead of advancing money to home buyers, the Society had advanced money to property companies to
Investors Compensation Scheme Ltd v West Bromwich Building Society Investors Compensation Scheme Ltd v West Bromwich Building Society Lord Hoffmann set out five principles, so that contract should be construed according to: Investors received negligent advice from their financial advisers, solicitors and building societies, including West Bromwich Building Society ('West Bromwich BS'). They had claims in tort and for breach of statutory duty. The investors had been encouraged by financiers to enter "Home Income Plans", which meant mortgaging their properties to get cash that they would put into equity linked bonds. They lost money when house prices and stocks fell. Under the Financial Services Act 1986 section 54 the