The FCA has issued a final notice objecting to the proposed acquisition of Olampicaran Limited by Mr Ahmed, who had failed to notify and seek approval from the FCA.
Olampicaran was a small payments firm providing money remittance services. Mr Ahmed was seeking 100% control of the firm, but the FCA objected because he demonstrated a serious lack of professional competence and failed to comply with legislative requirements.
Previously, Mr Ahmed had acquired and regulated firm and ended his tenure without seeking FCA approval or notifying the FCA, both being criminal offences under FSMA. He also failed to notify the FCA about these events when notifying the regulator about his planned acquisition of Olampicaran.
In failing to notify the FCA, Mr Ahmed caused harm to the integrity of the payment services market due to the potential increased risk of illicit money being used within the system. Further, Olampicaran was not registered for anti-money laundering supervision by the HMRC. Mr Ahmed had failed to respond to the FCA’s requests for further information regarding this and other matters.
After the Decision Notice was issues, Olampicaran cancelled its permissions and is no longer a regulated firm.