The former chief executive of Catalyst has failed in to overturn a ban and £450,000 fine.
Timothy Roberts took his case to The Upper Tribunal after the FCA issued the penalties in August 2013 but today the ruling went against him.

The Tribunal has ruled Andrew Wilkins, a Catalyst director, should be fined £50,000, after he also referred his case.

A decision on whether to ban Mr Wilkins was referred back to the FCA. Both men can appeal the judgment.

Mr Roberts was a director and the chief executive of Catalyst, the UK distributor of bonds issued by ARM Asset Backed Securities SA, of which Mr Roberts was also a director. Mr Wilkins was a director of Catalyst until 23 March 2010, and was involved in compliance issues, especially in relation to financial promotions.

ARM was a securitisation vehicle based in Luxembourg which issued bonds and used the proceeds to invest in traded life assurance policies. ARM’s Bond Programme was registered with the Irish Stock Exchange and traded on its regulated market.

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The FCA said in a statement today: “ARM understood that it needed a licence to issue bonds from the Luxembourg regulator, the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier but did not have one. In November 2009, ARM was requested by the Luxembourg regulator to cease issuing bonds until it was granted a licence.

“Mr Roberts allowed Catalyst to continue promoting the bonds and collecting funds from potential investors after November 2009 in circumstances where the funds collected from potential investors were not ring fenced so that they could be paid back if ARM was refused a licence.

“Mr Roberts and Mr Wilkins allowed Catalyst to provide misleading information about ARM’s licence position in a letter to IFAs in December 2009. Mr Roberts also approved a letter to investors containing misleading information about ARM’s licence position in March 2010.”

The Tribunal ruled that Mr Roberts’ conduct “demonstrated a reckless disregard for the interests of investors, and considered the degree to which Mr Roberts acted with a lack of integrity to be serious”, the FCA stated.

The Tribunal also found that Mr Roberts had “acted without due care, skill and diligence in approving ARM’s financial promotions which failed to disclose to investors significant information relating to ARM’s regulatory position”.

The Tribunal agreed with the FCA’s decision that Mr Wilkins had acted without due care, skill and diligence. However, it rejected the FCA’s argument that Mr Wilkins had acted recklessly and without integrity.

The Tribunal said that contrary to the FCA’s decision, Mr Roberts and Mr Wilkins did take reasonable steps to keep Catalyst’s compliance officer informed of ARM’s licence position prior to 24 December 2009.