Vida Financial Services fined – director fined and banned
A SERIES of failings has seen Vida Financial Services fined £30,000, while a director has been fined £20,000 and banned by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission.
In a departure from its normal approach, triggered by an earlier court ruling, the regulator has made the ban indefinite with an indication of when Jonathan Wilson can apply to get the ban lifted.
Vida was incorporated in Guernsey in August 1989. Mr Wilson became the controller in October 2012 and a director in November that year. He is also the managing director of Vida.
‘An on-site visit was conducted by the GFSC in December 2016, which identified a number of concerns,’ the commission said in its ruling.
With reference to Schedule 4 of the Protection of Investors Law, failings were found in relation to competence, experience, soundness of judgement, diligence, knowledge and understanding of the applicable legal and professional obligations, prudence, integrity and professional skill.
Further failings related to compliance with the rules, codes, guidance, principles and instructions issued by the commission as well as failing to conduct business in a prudent manner.
Upon review of board minutes from 1 November 2013 to 16 June 2017, the commission said Vida’s record keeping of minutes and financial records was ‘extremely poor’ and deemed the company’s conflicts of interest policy ‘wholly inadequate’.
Mr Wilson admitted in interview to the GFSC that he was responsible for writing up board minutes, but did not do so.
‘Mr Wilson showed a lack of understanding of how actual and potential conflicts of interest in relation to both Vida and himself should be managed,’ the GFSC said.
Aggravating factors contributing to the ban included:
n The contraventions and non-fulfilment were not brought to the attention of the commission and are serious.
n Vida has a poor regulatory record going back to 2011, particularly in relation to submitting annual reports and accounts on time.
n There has been a failure to resolve issues to the reasonable satisfaction of the commission despite an extended period of regulatory involvement – that failure appears to lie largely with Mr Wilson, as the controller, managing director and only constant director throughout the relevant period, as a result of the insufficiency of steps taken by him personally to address the issues.
n Mr Wilson acted as a sole director of a regulated entity since April 2017, with few attempts made to rectify the situation until urged to do so by the commission.
