HOW DID BRITISH REGULATORS PERMIT A FOREIGN BANK IN EXTREMIS, WITH PENDING LITIGATION AND A SUSPENSION REQUEST, TO OPEN A REP OFFICE IN LONDON?

What on earth is going on with UK regulatory authorities? They have permitted Nevis-registered HAMILTON RESERVE BANK LTD. to open a representative office, notwithstanding protracted pending litigation against the bank, and a recent High Court Justice opining that its license should be suspended, pending a civil & criminal investigation. Doesn't anyone in the Financial Conduct Authority use Google for basic due diligence?

I realize that most of the media coverage of the multi-year civil litigation against the bank, filed by extremely unhappy clients who have been denied access to their deposits for several years, has been minimal, but even basic inquiries by the FCA would have revealed the problems. Who is watching the store there, please?

Also, given the listed address, it is obvious that the bank's rep office is purely virtual, no brick and mortar facility, with designated staff on site. Doesn't that further give regulators pause? Or was it the fact that there are British nationals on the Board of Directors sufficient to allay any suspicions? Is it the Old Boy Network again? Whatever it is, it smells of either undue influence or professional negligence. Not a good look for the FCA, to be sure.