Release Date: 29th April 2013
To access the original FSA document, click here.
Summary
Mr. Douglas Jones, former CEO and mortgage adviser at Which Mortgage, has been fined £13,300 and prohibited from performing any function in relation to regulated activities due to serious breaches of regulatory standards. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) imposed these sanctions due to Mr. Jones’s failure to demonstrate due skill, care, and diligence in managing the firm’s controls. This failure allowed Which Mortgage to submit fraudulent mortgage applications using false information, particularly falsified payslips, to high street lenders.
Mr. Jones further breached regulatory principles by dishonestly altering client files to mislead the FCA after a lender had raised concerns about the legitimacy of the information provided by the firm. His actions not only facilitated financial crime but also attempted to obscure the firm’s lack of robust controls to prevent such misconduct.
The key lessons for other firms from this case revolve around the importance of implementing stringent controls to verify client information and maintain transparency with regulators. Firms must ensure that their operations do not facilitate financial crimes and should adopt proactive measures to detect and address any such risks. Additionally, the consequences Mr. Jones faced underline the severe repercussions for individuals in leadership positions who fail to uphold regulatory standards and integrity in their practices.
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