The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued a £31,800 fine to Floris Jakobus Huisamen, a former director at London Capital & Finance plc (LCF), and banned him from the financial services industry.
Huisamen, who oversaw compliance at LCF, was found to have recklessly approved numerous financial promotions, leading to widespread investor misinformation.
LCF’s marketing of minibonds to retail investors, under Huisamen’s approval, painted an inaccurately positive image of the investments, omitting crucial details about the risks, hidden fees, and the unsustainable practices underlying LCF’s lending activities.
Despite his reservations about LCF’s operational strategies, Huisamen neglected to conduct thorough reviews or challenge the company’s senior management effectively.
He sanctioned financial promotions without verifying their content, contributing to the false impression that the minibonds were FCA-regulated and ignoring misleading claims even after recognising their inaccuracies.
Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, criticised Huisamen’s oversight, stating: “Mr Huisamen should have ensured LCF’s financial promotions were ‘fair, clear, and not misleading’.
“However, under him, the approval process became an ineffective tick-box exercise – as a result, thousands of investors were persuaded to invest on the basis of highly misleading statements.”
