Context
The FCA has banned an individual from working in financial services and fined him £68,300 for knowingly performing a controlled function without approval and for providing investment advice to retail customers when he knew he was not qualified or approved to do so.
Key points to note
- It was also found that the individual failed to act with integrity as a Director (CF1) and Compliance Oversight (CF10) and is therefore not a fit and proper person.
- The individual worked at a small financial advisory firm where he held a customer adviser function (CF30) until January 2013. Following the Retail Distribution Review, the FCA introduced rules requiring that advisers hold a minimum level of qualification to be approved for a CF30 function. Although his CF30 approval was removed in January 2013 by the FCA at his request, he still continued to advise retail customers between January 2013 and September 2017.
- He repeatedly misled his fellow directors by providing false information in board meetings about sitting and passing the relevant exams required for him to continue advising, and falsely claiming that he had applied to the FCA for approval as a CF30 but that the FCA had not updated the Financial Services Register.
- As part of his CF10 function he was required to provide regulatory information to the FCA in the firm’s Retail Mediation Activities Returns. In discharging this responsibility he knowingly misled the FCA into believing that only one person at the firm was providing retail investment advice to customers instead of two. He also provided explanations to the FCA that were untrue to conceal his own misconduct.
Next actions
None – for information only