The former CEO of Shard Capital Partners, James Lewis, has been fined £120,300 and banned by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
In a statement on 7 May, the FCA said the decision following two separate instances of providing incorrect information about clients’ cash purportedly held by Shard.
Lewis’ misconduct put the market and investors at risk, it said.
Between June 2015 and May 2017, Lewis told auditors that Shard held hundreds of millions in cash for a particular client. In fact, these sums were debts owed by another client in the same group.
In addition, between June and July 2021, Lewis provided misleading information to a further client purporting that Shard held substantial sums on its behalf. However, that client’s entire cash balance had previously been transferred out of its account.
In each instance, Lewis knew the information he provided would be used to produce the clients’ annual accounts. Those accounts were misstated as a result, the regulator said.
Steve Smart, joint Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight, said: “Mr Lewis fell woefully short of the high standards of skill, care and integrity we expect of all those who lead financial firms. Investors depend on accurate information, and Mr Lewis’ actions put investors at significant risk of losses. It is right that he won’t be allowed to work in regulated financial services again.”
As the FCA was considering the first of these instances, Shard became aware of the second and notified the FCA of the issue in September 2023. Subsequently, Lewis also reported his conduct to the FCA.
Lewis agreed to settle the matter and qualified for a 30% reduction discount. Were it not for this discount, the FCA said it would have imposed a financial penalty of £171,900 on him.
