The Upper Tribunal has upheld the FCA’s decision that Rangecourt SA (formerly Banque Havilland), Edmund Rowland, the former London CEO and Vladimir Bolelyy, a former Bank employee, acted without integrity.
The Tribunal agreed with the FCA that significant fines should be imposed, deciding that fines of £4m, £352,000 and £14,200 were appropriate for Rangecourt SA, Mr Rowland and Mr Bolelyy respectively. The Tribunal also upheld the FCA’s decision to ban Mr Rowland and Mr Bolelyy from working in financial services.
Banque Havilland created a plan (initially titled ‘Setting fire to the neighbour’s house fund’) to harm the Qatari Riyal through manipulative trading strategies. The aim was to devalue the Qatari currency and break its peg to the US Dollar, harming the economy of Qatar. Banque Havilland intended to present this manipulative trading strategy to a sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala Investment Company. Mr Rowland and Mr Bolelyy were instrumental in this deliberate misconduct. Mr Rowland was trying to impress Mubadala in the hope of securing future financial benefit for Banque Havilland and his family. In making its findings the Tribunal held that Mr Rowland lied to both the FCA and in court. He also persuaded Mr Bolelyy to lie.
Steve Smart, executive director of Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA, said:
