The QFC Regulatory Authority (QFC RA) has taken disciplinary action against Luis Laplana, an investment manager at trust administrator Horizon Crescent Wealth (HCW), for providing misleading information to the Regulatory Authority during an investigation of the company.
The regulator has imposed a financial penalty of QAR546,182 (£122,000, $150,000, €139,000) and an indefinite prohibition from carrying out any function for firms in the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC).
Laplana was an investment manager for two customers of HCW.
In 2019, the QFC RA took disciplinary action against trust administrator HCW and fined the business QAR30m (£6.8m, $8.2m, €7.8m) for serious legal and regulatory breaches of the anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing laws and the Financial Services Regulations.
The financial penalty and prohibition imposed on Laplana followed an investigation, which found that he “provided misleading information” to the Qatar regulator during its original investigation of HCW, and “knowingly and recklessly provided” the watchdog “with false, misleading or deceptive information or concealed information where the concealment of such information was likely to mislead or deceive” the QFC RA.
The regulator said: “The actions taken by the Regulatory Authority against Laplana will serve as a strong deterrence to other individuals who are required to provide evidence in investigations by ensuring that the information they provide is not misleading the regulatory authority.”
This comes several months after the Qatar watchdog banned the former director of HCW, Robert Sharratt, from carrying out any function for firms in the QFC.
