The FSA banned Bolton based mortgage and insurance broker Riaz Ahmad, who ran Finance.com. The FSA’s investigation found that Ahmad was unable to demonstrate he had the competence required to be an approved person. Specifically he failed to:
- understand the responsibilities associated with running a regulated mortgage business;
- put in place adequate supervision arrangements, effectively leaving a mortgage adviser to run the business despite not holding any controlled functions;
- ensure that compliance failings were addressed by liaising with Finance.com’s compliance consultants;
- monitor the suitability of mortgage advice provided by Finance.com’s staff; and
- put in place adequate risk management systems to prevent Finance.com being used to further financial crime.