Towry’s head of risk and compliance left this week, days after the firm was fined £494,000 for giving misleading information to the Financial Services Authority.

Nick Anderson joined Towry in 1998 after training as a lawyer. During that time he was responsible for compliance, risk management, training and competence and legal functions within the firm. No reason has been given for his departure.

A spokesman for Towry said: “Towry cannot comment on decisions made by individuals. We would like to thank Nick for his contribution and tremendous amount of hard work whilst at Towry and we wish him every success in the future.”

Towry was fined £494,000 last week for providing the FSA with misleading information and for client money breaches.

Last year the FSA sent out a ‘Dear CEO’ letter to all relevant firms to check they were complying with its Client Asset Sourcebook (CASS) requirements.

CASS sets out the rules on how firms need to treat clients’ money.

Towry responded stating that it was fully compliant.

However, it failed to ensure the response was properly considered and it only became apparent that the firm was not compliant after a FSA visit to the firm in November 2010.

Tracey McDermott, acting FSA director of enforcement and financial crime, said: “It should go without saying that taking steps to ensure information provided to us is properly considered, up to date and correct is a basic regulatory requirement.

“It is very disappointing that Towry failed to do so particularly in an area of such regulatory importance. Firms should be in no doubt about how seriously we regard such failures.”