Vega Swiss Asset Management, of which Swiss-citizen Vega remains chief executive, must repay £58,784 of fees paid by one of its clients in return for the firm trading on foreign-exchanges on their behalf.
The firm had agreed to refund the full £73,784.26 paid by the client, known only as Mr M, when the agreement ended in 2014.
However, Vega Swiss has paid just £15,000 of the total so far, and has now been ordered to repay the full amount after the case was referred to the UK’s Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).
During an initial investigation Vega Swiss said it had experienced “financial difficulties”, but did not deny it had agreed to repay the money or deny it had not paid it back in full.
Ombudsman Philip Roberts said: “Mr M and Vega Swiss came to an agreement about a refund of fees paid for the investment arrangement. That isn’t denied. The agreed refund was £73,784.26. Vega Swiss has only paid part of that sum. It doesn’t dispute its liability to pay the balance.
“Vega Swiss should pay the balance of the agreed sum due to Mr M. And as it hasn’t stuck to the agreed timetable for making the payments it’s fair and reasonable that it should also pay interest on the amount outstanding.”
Interest added
Vega Swiss, founded in 2008 by former Tottenham Hotspur and Celtic player Vega, must now repay the £58,784.26 to Mr M plus interest of 8% a year from May 2016 until the amount is repaid.
Before he established Vega Swiss AM, Ramon Vega was a founding member of alternative asset manager, Duet Group, which currently manages $4.4bn across hedge funds, private equity and real estate.
According to the Vega Swiss website, Vega holds a business degree specialising in banking and finance from Zurich Business School.
The former centre-back played for Spurs from 1997 to 2001 and played 23 times for Switzerland, including an appearance in the Euro 1996 tournament.
