FSA dishes out £100k fine to former Royal Liver FD
George McGregor fined for abusing his position as FD of Royal Liver Assurance
THE FORMER finance director of Royal Liver Assurance has been fined £109,000 by the FSA for dishonestly entering into millions of pounds of contracts.
George McGregor entered into two contracts on behalf of his company with businesses controlled by a former RLA employee. McGregor had negotiated the former employee’s bonus, but thought the deal would not be approved by RLA’s board. McGregor then sought to conceal the bonus by awarding the former employee’s companies with two contracts, with £3.6m paid out.
McGregor also falsified the signature of RLA’s CEO in order to process the funds relating to the contracts. On top of the payments, it also left RLA incurring a possible contractual liability of up to £18m.
McGregor abused his position in RLA, the FSA found. He withheld this information from RLA and circumvented systems and controls for approving contracts which he himself had been instrumental in implementing.
Tracey McDermott, acting director of enforcement and financial crime, said: “McGregor abused his position of responsibility and engaged in a dishonest, deliberate and sustained course of misconduct. McGregor failed to act with integrity and is not a fit and proper person to work in the financial services industry.
His co-operation and agreement to settle at an early stage saw him receive a 30% reduction on the financial penalty. A £1m fine was issued, but reduced as it would have caused serious financial hardship.
He is also prohibited from performing any regulated role in the financial services industry.