FCA fines and enforcement actions in 2026

The FCA found that Denisz Andras Nagy, formerly chief executive of Dolfin Financial (UK) Limited, led a scheme (about 2016–2019) that helped clients bypass the Home Office investor‑visa rules by charging fees and creating a false impression that required investments had been made. On 25 August 2026 the FCA fined him £324,800 (after a 30% settlement discount) and imposed a prohibition from performing any function in relation to regulated activities, finding breaches of APER and COCON including failures of integrity, openness and co‑operation and that he was not fit and proper. The FCA said the scheme enabled at least 99 individuals to obtain investor visas and generated at least £35.5m in fees; the notice also records that Nagy and others deliberately concealed the scheme from the FCA and the Home Office.

The FCA fined and prohibited Sanjay Maraj on 25 August 2026 for breaches of APER and COCON in the wealth management/private banking sector — the regulator found he failed to act with integrity, was not open and co‑operative, and was involved in conduct amounting to financial crime and a lack of fitness and propriety. The action arose from a scheme run at Dolfin Financial that between 2016 and 2019 helped clients bypass the UK investor‑visa rules; the FCA says Mr Maraj managed the financial aspects of the scheme. He agreed to settle and received a 30% discount on the penalty. The FCA also banned two other former Dolfin executives; one has referred his decision to the Upper Tribunal.

The FCA fined and banned Demetrios Christos Hadjigeorgiou after finding breaches of APER 6 (Statement of Principle 6: to exercise due skill, care and diligence) and FIT (fitness and propriety requirements) while he was CEO of SVS Securities Plc. The regulator found he allowed customers’ pension money to be put into high‑risk products and failed to challenge a 10% reduction applied to customers’ bond sales, a decision that generated £359,800 for SVS and caused some customers to lose part of their pension savings. He was fined £56,400, given a prohibition order and settled with the FCA by withdrawing his referral to the Upper Tribunal.

The FCA found that Paul Vincent Taylor breached Individual Conduct Rule 1 (must act with integrity) by making false and misleading statements and falsifying documents—including claims he owned a c.€200m bond portfolio—while seeking to acquire a UK bank and Reading Football Club. The regulator fined him £489,000, imposed a prohibition (ban) from regulated activities and concluded he acted dishonestly. Taylor qualified for a 30% settlement discount; without it the penalty would have been £698,600. The FCA’s final notice and press release set out the findings and sanction dates in August 2026.

The FCA fined Esmeralda Toni £121,200 and issued a prohibition after finding she breached Individual Conduct Rule 1 (COCON 2.2.1R) by failing to act with integrity in the wholesale broking sector. The FCA found Toni knowingly assisted Blue Horizon’s then-CEO in creating false documents and misleading statements — including claims about ownership of a €200m bond portfolio — while pursuing attempted acquisitions of a UK bank and Reading Football Club. The conduct took place while she was an executive director at Blue Horizon (Feb 2022–Dec 2025); she agreed to settle the matter and qualified for a 30% discount under FCA procedures (without the discount the penalty would have been £173,100).

On 12 May 2026 the Financial Conduct Authority fined and prohibited Frank Breuer £755,000 for breaches of the Fit and Proper test (FIT), COCON 2.1.1 and APER 1 related to a lack of fitness and propriety and failing to act with integrity as an investment adviser. The FCA found he provided pension and investment advice without the required professional indemnity insurance (since April 2019), failed to pay an Ombudsman award and put customers’ compensation at risk. The penalty includes disgorgement of financial benefit and interest; the FCA imposed both a prohibition from regulated activity and the financial penalty (Final Notice dated 12 May 2026).

The FCA fined Dinosaur Merchant Bank Limited £338,000 for failing to have effective systems and controls to detect and report suspicious trading in its contracts for difference (CFD) business. A new order system introduced in June 2024 led to a sharp rise in CFD trading (about $3.05bn of trades between June and October 2024) that was not captured by the firm’s automated surveillance; DMBL identified the issue in October 2024 but did not fully remedy it until May 2025 and stopped selling CFDs in May 2025. The FCA found breaches of Article 16(2) of UK MAR (the duty to detect and report suspicious orders/transactions), SYSC 6.1.1R (requirement to maintain adequate systems and controls) and Principle 3 (take reasonable care to organise and control its affairs), and applied a 30% cooperation discount (the fine would have been £482,900 without the discount).

The FCA fined Richard John Howson £237,700 on 16 February 2026 for being knowingly concerned in misleading announcements by Carillion and for failures of systems, controls and integrity. The regulator found he acted recklessly and was knowingly concerned in breaches of Article 15 of the Market Abuse Regulation, Listing Rule 1.3.3R, Listing Principle 1 and Premium Listing Principle 2 in the period 1 July 2016 to 10 July 2017 (including announcements on 7 Dec 2016, 1 Mar 2017 and 3 May 2017). Howson withdrew his referral of the FCA’s decision to the Upper Tribunal, which meant the Final Notice was published and the penalty finalised.

The FCA found that in December 2021 Bhavesh Hirani (then interim CFO at Bidstack) passed confidential inside information about a major deal to his friend Dipesh Kerai. Kerai used an account in his name (funded with about £25,000 of his money) to buy 1.3m Bidstack shares before the announcement and made roughly £9,260 when the price rose; the FCA concluded this was insider dealing (breach of Article 14(a) of the UK Market Abuse Regulation, which prohibits dealing in securities while in possession of inside information). The FCA fined Kerai £52,731 (including £9,260.74 disgorgement plus interest and a penalty reduced by a 30% settlement discount).

The FCA fined Bhavesh Hirani £56,000 on 27 January 2026 for insider dealing and the unlawful disclosure of inside information, breaches of Article 14(a) and 14(c) of the UK Market Abuse Regulation. The regulator found that while interim CFO at Bidstack in December 2021 Hirani passed confidential details of a material deal to a friend (Dipesh Kerai), opened a trading account in that friend’s name and — with his help — bought about 1.3m Bidstack shares ahead of the public announcement. The assessed penalty was £80,000 but Hirani received a 30% settlement discount, reducing the fine to £56,000; the friend made circa £9,200 when the shares rose and his penalty included disgorgement of that profit.

The FCA (whose decision was upheld by the Upper Tribunal) found that Darren Antony Reynolds gave dishonest pension transfer advice to members of the British Steel Pension Scheme, encouraged unsuitable transfers and investments, hid high exit fees, falsified documents and obstructed the investigation. He was banned from regulated financial services and fined £2,037,892 for breaching Statement of Principle 1 (which requires firms and individuals to act with integrity). The FCA said over £17.6m has been paid in compensation to more than 470 affected customers and that the Tribunal agreed with the FCA’s penalty calculation; no settlement discount was applied.

The FCA fined former Carillion finance director Richard Adam £232,800 on 7 January 2026 for being knowingly concerned in Carillion’s publication of misleading information. The regulator found he was aware of serious problems in Carillion’s UK construction business but failed to ensure that announcements, or the board and audit committee, were properly informed; the breaches included Article 15 of the Market Abuse Regulation (no false or misleading signals), Listing Rule 1.3.3R (don’t publish misleading information), Listing Principle 1 (have adequate procedures, systems and controls) and Premium Listing Principle 2 (act with integrity). Mr Adam — finance director from April 2007 to 31 December 2016 — withdrew his challenge to the FCA’s decision.

On 7 January 2026 the Financial Conduct Authority fined Zafar Khan £138,900 for being “knowingly concerned” in Carillion’s publication of misleading information in late 2016 and 2017. The FCA found Mr Khan — who had been Carillion’s finance director in 2017 — was aware of serious problems in the company’s UK construction business but failed to ensure announcements, and the board’s oversight, reflected that; he was found to have breached Article 15 of the Market Abuse Regulation (prohibits market manipulation / false or misleading statements), Listing Rule 1.3.3R (do not publish misleading information), Listing Principle 1 (requirement to have adequate procedures, systems and controls) and Premium Listing Principle 2 (requirement to act with integrity). The fine followed Mr Khan’s withdrawal of his challenge to the FCA’s decision.