CISX paid the settlement agreement in January, following a two year investigation by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) into its conduct in relation to transactions in the listed securities of Arch Guernsey.
The regulator said that further enforcement activity was “unlikely to be appropriate” following the settlement, and concluded that the CISX’s former chief executive, Tamara Menteshvili, had not breached any regulatory requirements.
It also said its investigation revealed “nothing that would justify any action” against any present or former non-executive directors of the CISX.
“Those individuals have throughout been and remain fit and proper persons in good standing,” it added.
Initially, the regulator did not make the settlement public because it was still in the process of deciding whether to take further action against the exchange.
Arch Cru’s Guernsey-based funds were suspended in July 2009 as a result of liquidity problems, leading thousands of investors to lose capital. The CISX then suspended all its listings in October 2013 as a 20-month investigation into the suspension drew to a close.
Freed from past issues
Following this, the CISX rebranded as the Channel Islands Securities Exchange (CISE) in December 2013 after its business was acquired by the Channel Islands Securities Exchange Authority.
The rebrand resulted from the resignation of Menteshvili and several other senior figures, as well an investigation lead by venture capital veteran Jon Moulton, who temporarily succeeded Menteshvili as the exchange’s head.
Speaking to International Adviser at the time, Moulton said that the CISE was “freed from its [predecessor’s] past issues” with “fresh capital, and a strengthened management structure in place”.
In July, the CISE appointed Guernsey Finance chief executive Fiona Le Poidevin as its CEO. She will leave her position at Guernsey Finance in early 2015.
