Context
A financial advisor has been prohibited from performing any regulated activity within the financial services industry on the grounds that he cannot be seen as a fit and proper person due to his conduct which demonstrated a lack of honesty and integrity. He is the director, owner and sole approved person of 4Life Financial Planning Limited (4Life), a financial advisor and mortgage intermediary based in London.
Key points to note
- The FCA found that between 14th January 2015 and 15th May 2019 he deliberately submitted false information to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) by understating the income in his self-assessment tax returns over a 5-year period. He demonstrated a lack of honesty and integrity when he concealed this from the FCA when providing them with information which he knew to be false during a compelled interview.
- He submitted lower income tax returns to HMRC and used the higher income tax returns as the basis of a personal mortgage application. His total income as stated in his mortgage application was £367,757 greater than the income he had declared to HMRC over the same 3-year period.
- He also used the income figures from the lower income tax returns to claim working tax credits.
Next actions
None – for information and awareness