The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority is investigating whether Ariadne Capital Limited, a venture capital firm that collapsed at the end of 2017, breached rules governing the promotion and management of investments, The Sunday Times (of London) reported.

The firm was run by Julie Meyer, whose Ariadne Capital Malta Ltd was last year stripped of its licence by the Malta Financial Services Authority for breach of conditions.

The MFSA also removed Ms Meyer’s fund Ariadne Capital ECO2 VC Limited Partnership and its four sub-funds: 2SQRS Venture Fund, ECO2 Fund, JGV Tamar Fund, and Sustainable Aviation Fund from the list of Notified Alternative Investment Funds because of “serious deficiencies in its governance structures”.

The newspaper reported that Ariadne Capital was founded in 2000 as an investor and adviser to early stage businesses. It also ran the Entrepreneur Country networking platform. It failed after one of its suppliers, GQ Employment Law, issued a winding-up petition. Unsecured creditors are expected to lose almost £2.2 million.

Ms Meyer is also subject to a separate investigation by the UK government’s Insolvency Service into her conduct as a director while leading Ariadne. Possible sanctions, if any wrongdoing is found, could include her being struck off as a director.

Ms Meyer’s new firm, Viva Capital, a Swiss entity that describes itself as a backer of early stage businesses, has been the subject of a complaint to the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, the newspaper said.