The FCA has banned Martin Sarl from working in the financial services industry for acting without honesty and integrity. The regulator has also fined Mr Sarl £5,021.
The FCA’s investigation found that between November 2017 and October 2019, Mr Sarl failed to pass clients’ premium payments to insurers in his capacity as sole director of Perry Prowse (Insurance Consultants) Ltd. As a result, customers were inadvertently uninsured.
The FCA found that Mr Parl used this money to pay his own, and the firm’s, personal debts, in breach of the FCA’s Client Money Rules. Mr Parl hid this from customers when probed, attempting to explain that an IT ‘glitch’ had caused the confusion. At least one customer had a claim refused as a result of no cover being in place.
Mr Sarl would have been fined over £60,000, but was able to demonstrate serious financial hardship which led the regulator to imposing a reduced fine of £5,021.