The FCA has banned former SVS Securities CEO Demetrios Hadjigeorgiou from working in senior management positions in financial services and fined him £56,400.
Hadjigeorgiou was the former chief of discretionary fund manager SVS, which managed around £69.6m on behalf of 879 retail customers through self-invested personal pensions.
While Hadjigeorgiou was CEO, the firm invested customers’ money, including pension savings, in high-risk products while receiving significant payments from the companies that issued them.
The FCA found Hadjigeorgiou failed to properly manage SVS and protect its customers’ interests.
It found he also failed to challenge a decision that reduced the value of customers’ bond investments by 10% when they decided to sell them, which generated £359,800 for SVS at the expense of its customers. Customers were not clearly told about this reduction and, as a result, some lost part of their pension savings.
The ban and fine were imposed after Hadjigeorgiou settled his case with the FCA and withdrew his referral to the Upper Tribunal.
Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight, said: “Building up a pension for retirement is one of the most important investments you can make. Mr Hadjigeorgiou put people’s savings at risk and his actions have left people worse off in retirement.
“Where senior leaders fail to put customer interests first, we will act.”
