UK's Woodford business rejects allegations of regulatory breaches

LONDON, June 9 (Reuters) - W4.0, the new venture of high-profile former fund manager Neil Woodford, on Tuesday rejected allegations it was operating without authorisation and called the UK financial regulator's decision to publicly flag legal action "regrettable".

The Financial Conduct Authority said on Monday it planned to sue Woodford and W4.0, alleging the business provided regulated investment advice and made financial promotions without authorisation.

W4.0, which describes itself as a research and commentary platform offering analysis and insight on markets and the economy, said it had engaged with the FCA for nine months, had "made changes and adjustments ... to accommodate the FCA" and did not accept the regulator's characterisation of its service.

"We are surprised the FCA chose to announce this publicly before any proceedings have been served on us, and before the dialogue we have been engaged in for the past nine months was concluded," the group said.

"We deliberately informed readers that we were not regulated and did not provide financial advice. Like other publishers and platforms offering this kind of information, it was built to sit outside the regulatory perimeter, and we remain confident that it does."

Woodford did not respond to a request for comment sent over LinkedIn.

The FCA last August sought to ban Woodford and fine him and his Woodford Investment Management company a combined £45.9 million ($61.5 million) over alleged management failures at a flagship fund that collapsed in 2019, leaving hundreds of thousands of investors out of pocket.

Woodford and WIM have said they plan to challenge the penalties in court.

($1 = 0.7462 pounds)

(Reporting by Kirstin Ridley. Editing by Mark Potter)