On May 16, 2012 Financial Services Authority (FSA) published that it has published a decision notice indicating that it has decided to prohibit Anthony Verrier (a senior executive at BGC) from performing any function in relation to any regulated activity in the financial services industry. The FSA believes that Verrier is not a fit and proper person due to concerns over his honesty, integrity and reputation. Verrier has referred the matter to the Upper Tribunal (the Tribunal) where he and the FSA will each present their case. The Tribunal will then determine the appropriate action for the FSA to take. The Tribunal may uphold, vary or cancel the FSA’s decision. The Tribunal’s decision will be made public on its website.

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On May 15, 2012 Financial Services Authority (FSA) published that it has fined Habib Bank AG Zurich £525,000 and its former Money Laundering Reporting Officer Syed Itrat Hussain £17,500 for failure to take reasonable care to establish and maintain adequate anti-money laundering (AML) systems and controls. The failings at Habib lasted almost three years and exposed the firm to an unacceptable risk of laundering money. Habib is a privately owned Swiss bank with twelve branches in the UK and approximately 15,500 customers. Approximately 45% of its customers were based outside the UK and about half of its deposits came from jurisdictions which, according to independent international organisations, had less stringent AML requirements or were perceived to have higher levels of corruption than the UK.

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On May 11, 2012 Financial Services Authority (FSA) published that it has fined Donald McKee Morgan, a partner in the firm of Donald Morgan Insurance Services (DMIS), £335,204 for committing insurance fraud. Morgan, who was based in Ayrshire, Scotland, has also been banned from carrying out any regulated financial services activity in the future. Donald Morgan’s wife, Janet Morgan, who was the only other partner at DMIS, has also been publicly censured and banned from carrying out regulated financial services. Janet Morgan took no active part in the affairs of the firm, and failed to notice her partner’s fraudulent activity.

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On May 08, 2012 Financial Services Authority (FSA) published that a Confiscation Order of £572,283.21 has been made against Rupinder Sidhu. A costs order was also made in favour of the FSA who brought the case. This follows his conviction at Southwark Crown Court on 15 December 2011 for 22 counts of insider dealing, for which he was sentenced to 2 years in prison.

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On May 08, 2012 Financial Services Authority (FSA) published that it has fined Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company (Europe) Ltd (MSIEu) £3,345,000 for serious corporate governance failings, and imposed a ban and fine of £119,303 on its former executive chairman, Yohichi Kumagai. MSIEu is a London-based subsidiary of the Japanese insurance firm Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company Ltd, which is part of one of the world’s largest non-life insurance groups. MSIEu historically supplied wholesale insurance cover only to Japanese firms operating in Europe and the Middle East.

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On May 01, 2012 Financial Services Authority (FSA) published that it has fined Christchurch Investment Management Limited, a small firm specialising in financial planning and portfolio management, £26,600 and its compliance officer David Thornberry £11,550 for failings in relation to the protection of client money. Thornberry is also prohibited from acting as a compliance officer or having responsibility for client assets.

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On April 30, 2012 Financial Services Authority (FSA) published that Michael McInerney of Richmond, North Yorkshire, has been convicted of three counts of money laundering and sentenced to four and half years in jail, to be served concurrently, following a joint investigation by the Financial Services Authority and City of London Police. McInerney has also been disqualified from being a company director for seven years. The trial took place at Southwark Crown Court.

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On April 03, 2012 Financial Services Authority (FSA) published that it has today published a Decision Notice for Ian Hannam, the Chairman of Capital Markets at J P Morgan Cazenove. The Decision Notice indicates that the FSA has decided to fine Hannam £450,000 for market abuse. Hannam has referred the matter to the Upper Tribunal where he and the FSA will each present their case. The Tribunal will then determine the appropriate action for the FSA to take. The Tribunal may uphold, vary or cancel the FSA’s decision. The Tribunal’s decision will be made public on its website.

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On March 28, 2012 Financial Services Authority (FSA) published that it has fined and banned two former directors of Cattles plc and its subsidiary Welcome Financial Services Limited for publishing misleading information to investors about the credit quality of Welcome’s loan book and acting without integrity in discharging their responsibilities. The FSA has also publicly censured Cattles and Welcome for publishing misleading information.

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On March 13, 2012 Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined Nicholas Kyprios, Head of European Credit Sales at Credit Suisse in London, £210,000 for improper market conduct in disclosing client confidential information ahead of a significant bond issue in November 2009. Credit Suisse acted on behalf of Liberty Global, Inc. during its takeover of UnityMedia GmbH which was part-financed by a €2.5 billion bond issue. So that he could market the bond to clients, on 9 November 2009, Kyprios was wall-crossed regarding the takeover and the proposed bond issue. He was given confidential information by Credit Suisse, told that it was inside information and instructed in writing not to disclose it to third parties.

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On March 08, 2012 Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined former Finance Director at Royal Liver Assurance Limited, George McGregor, £109,000 for entering into contracts on behalf of RLA without authorisation and which benefitted a former RLA employee. The FSA determined that McGregor’s behaviour merited a fine of £1,000,000 but reduced the amount because this level of fine would cause serious financial hardship. McGregor is also prohibited from performing any function in relation to any regulated activity in the financial services industry.

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On February 21, 2012 Financial Services Authority (FSA) has obtained an interim injunction at the High Court against Stuart Carl Mudge and Anthony John Lewis regarding their involvement in the Churchgate Trading Syndicate (Churchgate). The injunction prevents them from accepting any further investments into Churchgate, or making any new trades on behalf of the syndicate with investor funds. Assets belonging to both Mudge and Lewis have also been frozen.

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On February 16, 2012 Financial Services Authority (FSA) fined Andrew Osborne, former Managing Director in Corporate Broking at Merrill Lynch International (now Bank of America Merrill Lynch International) £350,000, for engaging in market abuse by improperly disclosing inside information ahead of a significant equity fundraising by Punch Taverns Plc (Punch) in June 2009. Osborne acted on behalf of Punch and approached Greenlight Capital Inc (Greenlight), a major shareholder at the time. Greenlight refused to be wall-crossed1 yet on 9 June 2009, Osborne proceeded with a conference call between Punch management and David Einhorn, President of Greenlight.

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On January 11, 2012 Financial Services Authority (FSA) charged Richard Anthony Joseph, with eight counts of insider dealing and two counts of money laundering. Joseph, who is 42 years of age attended City of London Magistrates Court today (Wednesday 11th January 2012). Joseph was sent for trial and will next appear at Southwark Crown Court on 6 March 2012. He is on conditional bail.

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On January 31, 2012 Financial Services Authority (FSA) fined Ravi Shankar Sinha £2.867 million for fraudulently obtaining £1.367 million for himself from a company owned by a private equity fund advised by JC Flowers by means of a fictitious invoicing scheme. The financial penalty consists of £1.367 million disgorgement and a punitive element of £1.5 million. Sinha is also prohibited from performing any function in relation to any regulated activity in the financial services industry.

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