A former chief executive has been banned by the FCA after he dishonestly acted as a front for a disqualified director using the company to sell high-risk bonds.
Jeffrey Dawkins, the former chief executive of Vector Wealth, has also been fined nearly £270,000.
Dawkins sold Vector Wealth to a disqualified director who described himself as CEO and wanted to use Vector Wealth’s FCA-authorised status to sell mini-bonds.
Dawkins told the FCA he was still in charge, but the new ‘CEO’ was really running the firm.
This allowed the disqualified director and Kadir Kanizi, a former senior manager at Vector Wealth, to promote mini-bonds but investors were not properly warned about the risks.
Investors put in £105,000 on average, with one investing £1.1mn. Before seeing the marketing material, they had to confirm they were high-net-worth or sophisticated investors.
Investors are expected to lose about £4mn.
Therese Chambers, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: “Jeffrey Dawkins acted as a frontman for a banned director, helping high-risk investments look safer than they were.
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“Mr Dawkins and Mr Kanizi allowed misleading promotions to draw in investors, many of whom now face significant losses. Mini-bonds and similar investments are very high risk, and people should be extremely cautious.”
Kanizi was also banned from senior management roles and fined for failing to make sure consumers were properly warned about the risks.
Vector Wealth entered administration in 2022.
tara.o’connor@ft.com
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