Insurance Brokerage Firm penalised for failing to conduct basic checks – London, 3rd December 2009. The Financial Services Authority has banned two insurance brokers for colluding to conceal a criminal conviction. The FSA also cancelled permission for an Insurance Brokerage firm to carry on regulated activities. Margaret Cole, the FSA’s director of enforcement and financial crime, said:

“We have made examples of [these parties] to send a warning to firms and individuals: do not lie to the FSA. This case, and others that are due to follow, serve as a clear signal about the consequences of giving anything less than full and frank disclosure of
material information to the FSA.”

Alexandra Kelly, a director of pre‐employment screening firm at Powerchex, believes that the Insurance brokerage firm engineered its own downfall;

“The FSA is explicit that it expects firms to conduct checks on individuals applying to work in controlled functions. This
unsurprisingly includes criminal record checks as standard. Had the firm in question conducted such checks, the FSA would have had no cause to take such drastic action.”

http://www.powerchex.co.uk/interface/files/news/powerchex-warns-of-the-risk-of-insufficient-background-checking-after-the-fsa-takes-action.pdf