Wealth firm hit by FCA Final Notice over regulatory failures
A wealth management firm has been handed a Final Notice after the FCA said it had failed to comply with a regulatory requirement.
M I Wealth Management Limited in Stoke on Trent “has not been open and co-operative in all its dealings” with the regulator, officials said in the Final Notice document.
The FCA said “it has failed to respond adequately to the authority's repeated requests for it to submit the Retail Mediation Activities Return” for the period ended 30 June 2015, which was due to be submitted by 11 August 2015.
According to the FCA, M I Wealth had not referred the matter to the Tribunal within 28 days of the date on which the Decision Notice was given to it, therefore it has today cancelled the firm’s Part 4A permission.
Under a section titled reasons for action, the FCA Final Notice stated: “On the basis of the facts and matters and conclusions described in the Warning Notice, and in the Decision Notice, it appears to the authority that M I Wealth is failing to satisfy the Threshold Conditions, in that the authority is not satisfied that M I Wealth is a fit and proper person having regard to all the circumstances, including whether M I Wealth has managed its business in such a way as to ensure that its affairs are conducted in a sound and prudent manner.
“This is because M I Wealth has failed to comply with the regulatory requirement to submit the RMAR. M I Wealth has not been open and co-operative in all its dealings with the authority, in that it has failed to respond adequately to the authority's repeated requests for it to submit the RMAR, and has thereby failed to comply with Principle 11 of the authority's Principles for Businesses and to satisfy the authority that it is ready, willing and organised to comply with the requirements and standards under the regulatory system.”
The statement added: “These failures, which are significant in the context of M I Wealth’s suitability, lead the authority to conclude that M I Wealth has failed to manage its business in such a way as to ensure that its affairs are conducted in a sound and prudent manner, that it is not a fit and proper person, and that it is therefore failing to satisfy the Threshold Conditions in relation to the regulated activities for which M I Wealth has had a permission.”