Emma RadmoreFCA has fined Floris Huisamen, former director of LCF, £31,800 and banned him. Mr Huisamen had signed off financial promotions that gave a misleadingly positive impression of the minibonds LCF marketed. He had been responsible for compliance at the firm, and had been appointed before the firm became authorised, so had been responsible for arranging for an authorised firm to approve LCF promotions before it became directly authorised. Once it was authorised, he was responsible for signing off the promotions. FCA found he:
- failed properly to scrutinise the promotions;
- failed sufficiently to challenge senior management;
- failed to get evidence of the claims the promotions made;
- allowed promotions that gave the impression that FCA regulated the minibonds; and
- continued to approve promotions after he became aware they were making inaccurate claims.
Although the process in place should have required Mr Huisamen to conduct verifications, he often either did not do so, on the basis the information came from something that had already been published, or merely took senior management’s word on the accuracy of statements. He had concerns about the firm’s strategy, which he documented, but signed off the promotions nevertheless and without further due diligence.