Elizabeth Anne Parry who, since 2006, had been a sole trader conducting investment and mortgage business was fined £109,400 for lying repeatedly to the regulator when asked about her qualification status.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined a mortgage adviser almost £110,000banned from working in the industry for lying to the regulator about her qualifications.
Elizabeth Anne Parry who, since 2006, had been a soletrader conducting investment and mortgage business wasfined£109,400 for lying repeatedly to the regulator when asked about her qualification status.
FromJanuary 2015 Parry was authorised for consumer credit activities. Since 2013, retail investment advisers have been required to hold a Statement of Professional Standing and achieve the relevant professional qualifications, as part of changes following the Retail Distribution Review.
Parry made six misleading statements to the FCA between January 2013 and September 2015, with the intention of making the FCA believe that she had attained the appropriate qualifications to provide investment advice and that she had engaged in numerous dealings with her professional body, the Chartered Insurance Institute, as to why it had not supplied her with an SPS.
In October 2013, Miss Parry submitted a fabricated document to the FCA, which purported to be an SPS issued by the CII which would remain valid until January 2014. In May 2014 the FCA asked Parry to verify that she had obtained the appropriate qualifications. Parry then submitted a second fabricated SPS.
Mark Steward, director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said:“We raised the minimum qualification standards in order to protect consumers from financial harm, and Miss Parry’s behaviour demonstrates a clear disregard of those standards and her duty to be honest with the FCA. We will not tolerate this sort of behaviour.”
The FCA said it considers that Parry’s behaviour amounted to a failure to act with integrity, and that she poses a risk to consumers and to the integrity of the financial system. The FCA has therefore prohibited Parry from performing any function in relation to any regulated activity.
