The former deputy chief executive officer of asset manager H2O AM LLP (H2O), Jean-Noel Alba, has been fined £1,049,500 by the FCA and banned from the financial services industry.
An FCA investigation found that Mr Alba lacked integrity because he misled the FCA.
Between April 2015 and November 2019, H2O failed to carry out proper due diligence on investments relating to the Tennor Group of companies owned by Lars Windhorst, or companies he introduced.
The investments were high risk and hard to sell, leaving investor money trapped. In 2024, the FCA agreed that H2O would pay those investors €250 million.
During the FCA’s investigation into H2O, Mr Alba provided false and misleading statements and documentation to the regulator. Mr Alba was the principal point of contact with the FCA during its investigation.
Mr Alba asked junior colleagues to create minutes, including records and minutes of committees, where no formal meetings had taken place. Mr Alba also provided due diligence materials, such as investment research, to the FCA that had been created years after the investments had been made, when he had claimed they were produced at the time.
Steve Smart, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight, said:
'Senior leaders in financial services need to act with integrity. Mr Alba fell well short of those basic standards.
'He has no place in the industry. This ban and substantial fine should serve as a warning to others that if you mislead the FCA, you will face the consequences.'
Notes to editors
- Read the final notice (PDF)[1]
- The FCA investigation found that Mr Alba breached APER Statement of Principle 1 (failed to act with integrity) and Statement of Principle 4 (failed to deal with the FCA in an open and cooperative way); and Individual Conduct Rule 1 (failed to act with integrity) and Individual Conduct Rule 3 (failed to deal with the FCA in an open and cooperative way).
- The FCA previously announced H2O would pay €250 million[2] to affected investors following its investigation. Following its application to voluntarily cancel its permissions in the UK, H2O is no longer authorised in the UK. Mr Alba was previously identified in the final notice as 'Senior Manager A'.
- The French financial services regulator, the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), is the designated regulator in respect of the collective investments, which H2O had managed on a cross-border basis pursuant to the UCITS Directive.