In 2005 Leslie and Bennett’s firms assisted in the promotion of three Unregulated Collective Investment Schemes.
Over 800 people invested around £30m in the products, which subsequently failed.
Leslie and Bennett were responsible for overseeing the regulated activities of their respective firms and montoring compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements.
Following full investigations, the FCA found that the pair failed to exercise due skill, care and diligence in their positions, as they did not identify the extent to which their firms were involved in promoting the Ucis and they did not detect the risk that the Ucis were routinely being promoted to ineligible consumers.
Read our five practical steps to dealing with the Ucis ban…
Both of the men have now been prohibited from holding accountable significant influence functions at any FCA-regulated firm and charged a reduced fine of £28,000 after settling their cases at an early stage. This allowed them an 30% discount.
The regulator said other enforcement proceedings connected to these matters are on-going.
Bill Sillett, head of FCA retail enforcement, said: “The lax attitude of Leslie and Bennett to their duties was particularly unacceptable when you consider that their firms were involved in promoting the Ucis to thousands of mainstream retail consumers.
“This is another example of why we are toughening the rules around how such schemes can be promoted.”
In June this year, the FCA published final rules to ban the promotion of Ucis and certain close substitutes to the vast majority of retail investors in the UK.
