RegulationMay 29 2013

FCA strips Edinburgh IFA’s permissions over £22k shortfall

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A regulated Edinburgh-based IFA applied to have its permissions cancelled after the Financial Services Authority issued a supervisory notice of a decision to remove them, following concerns over capital resources.

A supervisory notice dated 24 January, but only published last week, reveals the regulator had set out to strip IFAeye Limited of its permissions to conduct any regulated activity.

The company then applied to have its permissions cancelled, and the regulator accepted the application.

The move came after the company failed to provide a report to the regulator proving it was meeting its regulatory capital requirement and composed by an accountant approved by the then-regulator, the FSA.

A first supervisory notice to IFAeye was published on 10 October of last year, revealing that IFAeye had provided accounts to the FSA in February 2012 which included items the firm could not subsequently verify, and which should not have been included in its balance sheet.

These items totalled £22,000 of the firm’s reported regulatory capital, which was £53,091 in the Retail Mediation Activities Return for the period ending 30 September 2011.

This suggests the company had overstated its regulatory capital position.

However, the company failed to provide the requested information and the regulator therefore concluded there was a substantial risk of consumer detriment if it was allowed to continue conducting regulated activities.

As of 23 May 2013, IFAeye Limited was no longer an authorised company according to the Financial Conduct Authority register.

This article has been amended since its original publication to include information that IFAeye Limited applied to have its permissions cancelled.