A leading debt management company based in Liverpool has had its license revoked by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) after it was found to be withholding payments which were due to customers.
A spokesperson for the OFT commented that Waterfront Financial would not be the last debt management company to pay the price if similar cases were reported.
He added: "Debt collection companies have a responsibility to treat their clients fairly as well as debtors. Unacceptable behaviour of this kind will not be tolerated and we will take tough action against any businesses that engage in such practices."