Two mortgage brokers banned for misleading the FSA

23 Dec 2008 12:06 PM

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has today banned two sole trader mortgage brokers – Andrew David Bowden, trading as Scott Jarrett Bowden and Partners (SJB), and Shaun Lawrence – for failing to comply with FSA rules.

Among the failures identified in both cases, the FSA found the brokers had misled the regulator, thereby displaying a lack of honesty and integrity.  The regulator found Mr Bowden submitted false and unverified information on the firm’s regulatory reports to the FSA, while Mr Lawrence removed documents from files before sending them on to the regulator.

In addition, both brokers failed to ensure that their work reached the appropriate regulatory standards and thus were judged not to be sufficiently competent and capable to conduct regulated activities.  Amongst other issues, both brokers failed to keep a record of all customer files and failed to keep documents secure – neither was aware exactly where all customer files were.  This is serious because it could lead to the risk that a customer complaint or enquiry could not be followed up, and that personal and confidential customer information could fall into the wrong hands and possibly be used for the purposes of financial crime.

Jonathan Phelan, FSA’s head of retail enforcement, said:

“The FSA will not tolerate firms who fail to understand and comply with our rules.  The actions of both brokers amply illustrate that they lacked not only the competence and capability to follow our rules, but also demonstrated a failure to act with honesty and integrity.

“We have now ensured that both Mr Bowden and Mr Lawrence are unable to work in the regulated industry again and this sends a message to firms that we take failures to comply with relevant standards extremely seriously.”

 Although the FSA did not uncover any actual customer detriment in these cases, if any customers of Shaun Lawrence or Mr Bowden’s firm SJB have concerns, then they should get in touch with the FSA’s customer contact centre on 0845 606 1234 (call rates may vary).

Notes for editors

1. Shaun Lawrence is based in Nottinghamshire, and Andrew David Bowden is based in Surrey.  The final notices include the background to the cases, the regulatory requirements contravened and the factors taken into account when settling the penalty.
2. The FSA regulates the financial services industry and has four objectives under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000: maintaining market confidence; promoting public understanding of the financial system; securing the appropriate degree of protection for consumers; and fighting financial crime.
3. The FSA aims to promote efficient, orderly and fair markets, help retail consumers achieve a fair deal and improve its business capability and effectiveness.