The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) today issued to Equitrade Markets Ltd a Decision Notice which notified the firm that the Authority had decided to cancel its Part 4A permission.
It appears to the regulator that the firm is failing to satisfy the suitability Threshold Condition, in that the Authority is not satisfied that the Firm is a fit and proper person having regard to all the circumstances, including whether the firm managed its business in such a way as to ensure that its affairs were conducted in a sound and prudent manner.
Equitrade Markets has failed to comply with the regulatory requirement to submit the Returns and it has not been open and co-operative in all its dealings with the Authority, in that the firm has failed to respond to the Authority’s repeated requests for it to submit the Returns, and has thereby failed to comply with Principle 11 of the Principles and to satisfy the Authority that it is ready, willing and organised to comply with the requirements and standards under the regulatory system.
These failures, which are significant in the context of the firm’s suitability, led the Authority to conclude that the firm has failed to manage its business in such a way as to ensure that its affairs are conducted in a sound and prudent manner, that it is not a fit and proper person, and that it is therefore failing to satisfy the Threshold Conditions in relation to the regulated activities for which the firm was granted a Part 4A permission.
