You invested in the Halcyon Retreat, around the Château de la Cazine in the Creuse. The returns stopped, the resort was never finished, and the château has been closed since 2023. You now read about liquidations, a criminal investigation, bank refunds, group claims and deadlines, often in contradictory terms.
This guide puts everything in one place. It sets out what must be done in France, and by when; what may be possible in England, and for whom; and which documents decide your position. Each section links to a detailed article.
One date comes before everything else: creditors living outside metropolitan France must file their claim in the liquidation of SAS Halcyon Retreat by 9 November 2026.
What can a Halcyon Retreat investor do now? The short answer
A Halcyon Retreat investor can act in France and, in some cases, in England. In France, the investor files a proof of claim in the liquidation of SAS Halcyon Retreat, by 9 November 2026 for creditors outside metropolitan France (art. R. 622-24 French Commercial Code), and joins the Bordeaux criminal investigation as a civil party (art. 87 French Code of Criminal Procedure). In England, an investor who paid from a UK bank, or through a regulated adviser or pension, may claim against those institutions (Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, s. 72).
Where things stand
The Halcyon Retreat was marketed around the Château de la Cazine at Noth, in the Creuse. Money flowed through several French and British companies. Two French companies are now in liquidation, a criminal investigation is open in Bordeaux, and several British companies of the group are being struck off.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 25 March 2025 | Search of the estate, with the assistance of Europol |
| 21 October 2025 | Liquidation of Château La Cazine SAS (Commercial Court of Guéret) |
| 28 February 2026 | Filing deadline for foreign creditors in the Château La Cazine liquidation |
| May 2026 | Arrest of Robin Barrasford in Spain |
| 23 June 2026 | Liquidation of SAS Halcyon Retreat (Commercial Court of Guéret) |
| 9 July 2026 | Publication of that liquidation in the BODACC (BODACC A n° 129, notice 2906) |
| July 2026 | Robin Barrasford placed under formal investigation (mis en examen) in France, according to press reports |
| 21 July 2026 | Halcyon Retreat Finance Ltd dissolved (Companies House) |
| 1 September 2026 | First notice of compulsory strike-off for Halcyon Retreat UK Ltd (Companies House) |
| 9 September 2026 | Filing deadline in the SAS Halcyon Retreat liquidation, creditors in metropolitan France |
| 9 November 2026 | Filing deadline in the SAS Halcyon Retreat liquidation, all other creditors |
| 9 January 2027 | Deadline to apply for relief from forfeiture in the SAS Halcyon Retreat liquidation |
Everyone concerned is presumed innocent until a court rules otherwise. The detail of the two French liquidations, with their references, is set out in a separate guide.
Invested in the Halcyon Retreat resort in France? Where your claim really stands
Start here: three documents decide your position
Before any route is chosen, three documents answer the three questions that decide everything.
- Your contract: which company sold you the investment, and what exactly it promised. SAS Halcyon Retreat, Château La Cazine SAS, a British company or a special purpose vehicle are not the same debtor.
- Your proof of payment: which account received your money, in which country, from which bank. That decides whether an English bank route exists, and which company actually took the funds.
- Your guarantee or buy-back documents: whether SAS Halcyon Retreat, or another company, guaranteed your investment.
Many investors do not know, today, what they legally hold: a property, a fraction, a membership of a British company, a loan note or a simple contractual claim. Marketing words such as « freehold » or « fractional ownership » do not settle the question. Under French law, a sale of real property must be recorded by a notary for the transfer to be published in the land registry (art. 710-1 French Civil Code).
The name on your bank transfer often says more about your claim than the brochure did.
What to do in France
File a proof of claim in the right liquidation
A proof of claim (déclaration de créance) is sent to the liquidator, Maître Axel Ponroy of Saulnier-Ponroy et Associés. The deadline is two months from publication, extended by two months for creditors living outside metropolitan France (art. R. 622-24 French Commercial Code): 9 September 2026 or 9 November 2026. The claim is stated in euros, converted at the exchange rate of 23 June 2026 (art. L. 622-25 French Commercial Code).
Many investors filed in the liquidation of Château La Cazine and believe they are covered. They are not, if their contract or payment points to SAS Halcyon Retreat: two companies, two liquidations, two filings.
If you hold a loan note guaranteed by SAS Halcyon Retreat
The guarantee can be claimed in the French liquidation without waiting for the British issuer’s formal default, as a claim for sums falling due (art. L. 622-25 French Commercial Code). The question of who files, the noteholder, the trustee or the lender of record, must be settled before the deadline. It is explained in a dedicated article on Halcyon loan notes guaranteed by SAS Halcyon Retreat.
If you missed the deadline
The supervising judge can grant relief from forfeiture if the delay was not your fault, or if the company omitted you from its list of creditors (art. L. 622-26 French Commercial Code). An omitted creditor does not have to prove a causal link between the omission and the late filing, and the same applies when no list was drawn up at all (Cass. com., 16 June 2021, n° 19-17.186). The application must be made by 9 January 2027. See the article on relief from forfeiture in the Halcyon liquidation.
Join the criminal case as a civil party
A judicial investigation for organised fraud and money laundering is open before the specialised financial crime court (JIRS) in Bordeaux. An investor joins it by filing as a civil party with the investigating judge (art. 87 French Code of Criminal Procedure). A civil party living abroad gives an address in France, usually that of their French lawyer (art. 89 French Code of Criminal Procedure).
Civil-party status gives access to the file through a lawyer, the right to request investigative steps (art. 82-1 French Code of Criminal Procedure) and the right to claim damages at trial. Reporting the facts to a British police force, to Action Fraud or to an MP does not make you a party to the French case.
Seized and confiscated assets
A French investigating judge can order the seizure of assets wherever they are located, including abroad, with enforcement through European mutual recognition (Regulation (EU) 2018/1805) or international mutual legal assistance. After a final conviction, a civil party whose damages remain unpaid can ask the French asset recovery agency, the AGRASC, to pay them in priority from confiscated assets (art. 706-164 French Code of Criminal Procedure). That route is closed to investors who are not civil parties. See the article on seizing Halcyon assets abroad.
The liquidation deals with what is left in the company. The criminal case deals with what the people behind it kept.
After a conviction: SARVI
An individual whose damages remain unpaid two months after the decision becomes final can also apply to the SARVI, the victims’ recovery assistance service (art. 706-15-1 French Code of Criminal Procedure). It pays up to €1,000 in full, and above that 30% of the award, with a minimum of €1,000 and a maximum of €3,000 (Fonds de garantie, SARVI page).
What may be possible in England
The English routes do not target Halcyon itself. They target a solvent institution in the chain: your bank, your adviser, your pension operator, or the compensation scheme. They are open mainly to investors who paid from a UK bank or dealt with a UK regulated firm.
Your bank
Since 7 October 2024, UK banks must reimburse authorised push payment fraud on Faster Payments and CHAPS between UK accounts, up to £85,000 per claim (Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, s. 72). Earlier payments fall under a voluntary code, the Contingent Reimbursement Model Code, in force from 2019. International payments, claims made more than 13 months after the last payment, and « civil disputes » are excluded.
A failed investment is not automatically a fraud in the bank’s eyes. The criminal investigation in France is precisely what may change that assessment.
Your adviser, pension operator or former pension provider
The Financial Ombudsman Service has upheld a Halcyon-related complaint against a SIPP operator (decision DRN-4910126, London & Colonial Services Ltd). It has also upheld complaints against former pension providers that allowed transfers into schemes that invested in Halcyon (decisions DRN-4986428, ReAssure Limited, and DRN-5231926, Zurich Assurance Ltd). Other complaints failed on causation (decision DRN2356401, Alexander Beard). Time limits apply: generally six years from the event, or three years from when the investor knew or should have known (Financial Ombudsman Service, time limits).
The compensation scheme
When a regulated adviser has failed, the Financial Services Compensation Scheme may pay up to £85,000 per person per firm for bad investment advice, for failures after 1 April 2019 (FSCS, what we cover). ARLWM Ltd, which introduced investors to Château de la Cazine, was declared in default on 4 March 2020 (FSCS, failed firm page).
A common mistake is to think that the FSCS limit for Halcyon investors is now £120,000. That figure is the limit for bank deposits since 1 December 2025, not for investment advice.
These routes are compared in detail with the French ones in an article on Halcyon claims in England and in France.
Which routes apply to you
You live in the UK and paid from a UK bank
You may combine the French routes (proof of claim, civil party) with the English ones (bank, Ombudsman, FSCS). The French deadline of 9 November 2026 runs whatever happens in England.
You invested through a pension (SIPP or SSAS)
The Ombudsman route against the SIPP operator, the adviser or the former pension provider deserves examination first, with its time limits. The French routes remain open in parallel.
You live elsewhere in Europe, in the Gulf, in Asia or in the Americas
The English bank route is usually closed if you paid from a non-UK account. Your recovery rests on the French routes: proof of claim by 9 November 2026, civil-party status, and, after a conviction, the AGRASC and the SARVI.
You live in metropolitan France
Your filing deadline expired on 9 September 2026. Relief from forfeiture remains possible until 9 January 2027 on the grounds set by the law. The civil-party route remains open.
You invested in 2011 to 2015
Time is the first question. In France, the five-year limitation period (art. 2224 French Civil Code) is interrupted by a written acknowledgment of the debt (art. 2240 French Civil Code): keep every email, payment plan and promise of repayment. In England, the Ombudsman time limits must be checked before anything else.
Common mistakes
- « If I miss the deadline, my claim is extinguished. » The text excludes the creditor from distributions unless relief is granted (art. L. 622-26 French Commercial Code); it does not affect rights against other persons.
- « My claim in the Château La Cazine liquidation covers me. » Not if your contract or payment points to SAS Halcyon Retreat.
- « Reporting to the police makes me a party. » Only a civil-party filing with the investigating judge in Bordeaux does (art. 87 French Code of Criminal Procedure).
- « Seized assets will be shared among all investors. » Payment from confiscated assets goes to civil parties holding a final award of damages, on request (art. 706-164 French Code of Criminal Procedure).
- « Mis en examen means charged. » It is a step of the French investigation, taken on serious or corroborating evidence (art. 80-1 French Code of Criminal Procedure); it is neither a conviction nor a decision to send the person to trial.
- « There is a Halcyon class action. » The French routes described here are individual: each investor files their own proof of claim and civil-party application.
Who to trust with your file
Many people now offer help to Halcyon investors: English solicitors, claims management companies, consultants and social media administrators. Before sending documents, ask each one for their full legal name, their FCA or SRA registration number, their professional insurer, how they are paid, and where you can complain if something goes wrong.
French and English routes are handled by different professionals. A French lawyer cannot act on a no win, no fee basis, since a fee based solely on the result is prohibited (art. 10 of Law No. 71-1130 of 31 December 1971). The reasons, and how fees work in France compared with England and the United States, are explained in an article on French lawyer fees and no win, no fee.
Suing in France: a Practical Guide for Foreign Claimants
Your case, not the general rule
Two investors in the same building can hold claims against different companies, under different deadlines, with different routes in England. The contract, the payment and the guarantee decide which. The facts count as much as the law, and that is where a lawyer’s work begins.
Valentin Simonnet is a member of the Paris Bar (avocat au Barreau de Paris). He practises in business litigation and white-collar criminal defence.
