By Charlie Conchie
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined and banned one of the former bosses of London Capital & Finance (LCF) today over his role in the mini-bond scandal that left investors millions of pounds out of pocket.
In a statement today, the watchdog said it had fined LCF’s former compliance chief Floris Jakobus Huisamen £31,800 and banned him from working in financial services over his role as compliance chief at the firm.
Huisamen “recklessly signed off hundreds of financial promotions” and helped the firm mislead thousands of investors, the FCA said in a statement. .
Some 11,000 investors lost more than £237m between 2014 and 2019 in a minibond scheme and left the taxpayer with a £120m compensation bill after LCF collapsed in 2019.
The scandal shone a light on failings at the FCA. A judge-led review found the FCA had failed to properly supervise the firm and triggered an overhaul in how it supervises companies. The Serious Fraud Office is also investigating suspected fraud and money laundering at LCF.
In its statement on Huisamen today, the regulator said the approval process for financial promotions of the minibond scheme “became an ineffective tick-box exercise” and as a result “thousands of investors were persuaded to invest on the basis of highly misleading statements”.
“His failings contributed to thousands of retail investors losing significant amounts of money. It is right that he can no longer work in financial services,” said Therese Chambers, director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA.
“In particular, he failed to obtain evidence of the claims being made, allowed promotions that gave a misleading impression that the minibonds were regulated by the FCA, and continued to approve promotions even when he became aware of inaccurate claims,” the FCA said, adding that investors were “not given the full picture about the risks of the product”. £45,500.
The FCA’s move follows a decision in October 2023 to censure LCF over their financial promotions.
