| Link(s): | FCA decides to fine Carlos Ricardo Fuenmayor £99,600 for disclosure failures | FCA Decision Notice 2026: Carlos Ricardo Fuenmayor |
Context
The FCA has published the details of a Decision Notice in which it sets out its reasons for imposing a financial penalty of £99,600 on Mr Carlos Ricardo Fuenmayor (“Mr Fuenmayor”), pursuant to section 66 of the Act. Mr Fuenmayor has referred his Decision Notice to the Upper Tribunal where he and the FCA will present their cases. Any findings in the Decision Notice are therefore provisional and reflect the FCA’s belief as to what occurred and how it considers his behaviour should be characterised.
Key points to note and next actions
- The FCA has decided to fine Mr Fuenmayor, the Chief Executive of BancTrust, for failing to disclose 3 separate matters to the FCA.
- Mr Fuenmayor failed, until December 2021, to tell the FCA, including in application forms that he submitted on behalf of BancTrust, that he had been placed under investigation by the US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority in December 2017 and was then sanctioned by them in June 2019.
- He also failed to disclose that, shortly before an inspection in November 2019, the National Financial Intelligence Unit of Venezuela had frozen his local currency bank accounts, as well as those of his Venezuelan companies and their directors.
- The failure to disclose these issues meant that the FCA did not have the opportunity to fully consider Mr Fuenmayor’s fitness and propriety or seek further information.
- The FCA concluded that Mr Fuenmayor’s failures were negligent and that he breached APER Statement of Principle 4 and Senior Manager Conduct Rule 4, which requires individuals to disclose appropriately any information which the FCA would reasonably expect.