The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)has fined and banned two UK based advisers over their involvement in UCIS schemes.
The two, John Leslie of Battersea and Jeffrey Bennett of Harrow were fined £28,000 each and banned from holding ‘accountable significant influence’ functions for their lack of oversight in the promotion of UCIS schemes in 2005.
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Leslie, who worked for Leslie and Nuding (now known as Leslie and Swallow) and Bennett who was with Burlington Associates Limited were both responsible for the oversight of regulated activities at their firms.
The FCA found that the pair had not recognised the extent to which their firms were involved in the selling of UCIS and the level to which these products were being sold to ineligible customers.
The two men were fined and banned for life as they had failed to ‘exercise due skill, care and diligence in their position’.
UCIS or Unregulated Collective investment Schemes were being sold to retail investors by the two firms and eventually 800 people invested £30 million ($46.8 million) in the scheme before its collapse.
Ben Sillet, 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.
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By GlobalData"This is another example of why we are toughening the rules around how such schemes can be promoted."
In June the promotion of UCIS and related schemes was banned by the FCA.
