The FSA has taken action after being informed in November 2004 of Mr Sonaike's convictions for housing benefit fraud. These showed that he was not fit and proper to be authorised to provide financial services.
Margaret Cole, Director of Enforcement at the FSA, said:
"The FSA must act to ensure that consumers are protected and markets operate in a fair and orderly way. We took appropriate and proportionate action towards Theophilus Sonaike in accordance with his criminal convictions. Fraud is extremely serious and an individual's honesty in such cases can affect their suitability to run a regulated firm.
"We check that firms are operating within our rules to maintain a level playing field for all. It is an offence for anyone to undertake regulated business unless they are authorised to do so and it could lead to criminal action."
Mr Sonaike was issued a First Supervisory Notice in May 2005 and a Decision Notice in October 2005. He exercised his right of appeal to the Tribunal on both occasions, however both decisions were upheld.
Background
- Theophilus Folagbade Sonaike was a sole trader independent financial adviser trading as F T Insurance Services.
- Here are the links to the FSA's first Supervisory Notice and Final Notice
- A link to the Tribunal's Decision can be found here
- Threshold Condition 5: Suitability (2.5.6) permits the FSA, when forming its opinion as to whether an authorised person is conducting its business with integrity and in compliance with proper standards, to have regard to relevant matters, including whether the firm has been convicted of any unspent offence involving, among other things, fraud, theft, false accounting or other dishonesty; where relevant, any spent convictions excepted for this purpose under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, will be taken into consideration
