Companies in Britain that commit wrongdoing have “nowhere to hide” and will face “meaningful consequences”, a new enforcement co-head of Britain’s markets regulator warned on Thursday, as she started setting out her strategy for the first time.
Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), warned firms and individuals against hiding behind their authorised status.
In her first speech since taking office in April, she told a mainly legal audience at the City & Financial FCA Investigations and Enforcement Summit in London to get their affairs in order and warned against “aggressive diversionary tactics”.
“There really is nowhere to hide … so I would advise everyone to get their ducks in a row now,” she said.
Richard Burger, a lawyer at WilmerHale’s UK investigations practice in London, said the FCA was sending a stern warning that more enforcement action would follow.
Chambers will be joined in her role on June 21 by Steve Smart, director of intelligence at the National Crime Agency. It is the first such joint appointment as the FCA seeks to become a more assertive and innovative regulator following criticism in recent years of its record.
The regulator has imposed fines of nearly 216 million pounds ($273 million) and secured convictions against four people for a binary option fraud over the last financial year.
At least 20 people face criminal charges after FCA investigations and there are 71 investigations open into suspected insider dealing, Chambers said.