High Court overturns FSA decision notice

The ruling, regarding a claimant who has been kept anonymous, said the FSA’s decision notice was inadequate and the alternative remedy of appeal was not effective or convenient.

The ruling said: “The case for the claimant is that the decision notice failed to explain how the FSA dealt with the representations made by the claimant and in particular why his representations were not accepted.”

The unnamed claimant was challenging a decision of the Regulatory Decisions Committee in a decision notice in October 2010, which censured the claimant and imposed a fine of £100,000 for alleged breaches of Principle 6 of the FSA’s Statements of Principle for Approved Persons.

This principle states: “An approved person performing a significant influence function must exercise due skill, care and diligence in managing the business of the firm for which he is responsible in his controlled function.”

The claimant said the FSA failed to give proper reasons for the decision, but the FSA argued that adequate reasons were put forward and said the claimant had the right to appeal to the Upper Tribunal.

The judgement from Justice Silber, said: “In the vast majority of cases, the Upper Tribunal provides a suitable alternative remedy especially when the challenge is to the content of a decision notice or when the challenge is to the correctness or the rationality of the actual decision.

“The present case constitutes an exception to this and the FSA can without difficulty avoid cases like the present one in the future simply by giving full and proper reasons.”

The judge ruled that as the relevant members of the RDC have retired, the matter should, subject to counsels’ submissions, be reconsidered by a different RDC.