FCA fines WH Ireland £1.2m and restricts new client bookings over market abuse failings

Was warned of fine in December

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined wealth management firm WH Ireland (WHI) £1.2m and restricted its recruitment of new clients after it failed to detect market abuse failings and protect insider information.

The UK regulator found that between 1 January and 19 June 2013, when WHI had around 9,000 clients and £2.5bn of assets under management, it failed to ensure it had the proper systems and controls in place to prevent market abuse being detected or occurring. On top of the fine, WHI has been restricted from taking on new clients in its corporate broking division for 72 days. Among its failings, the FCA listed deficient controls to ensure inside information did not leak to the public side of the business, inadequate personal account dealing rules for employees, failure to maintain an eff...