FCA, 전 SVS Securities CEO에게 제재하고 £56,400 벌금 부과

Financial Conduct Authority는 Demetrios Hadjigeorgiou를 금융 서비스 분야의 고위 관리 직책에서 금지하고 £56,400의 벌금을 부과했습니다, 2026년 8월 19일 SVS Securities 전 최고경영자에 대한 사건을 종결했습니다. 이 벌금은 소매 연금 자금을 £69.6 million 규모의 고위험 채권으로 전환하여 회사에 최대 12%의 수수료를 지급한 재량 펀드 매니저의 붕괴와 관련된 2년간의 분쟁을 해결합니다.

Hadjigeorgiou는 2017년 1월부터 SVS의 재무 이사였으며 2018년 5월 1일부터 2019년 8월 7일까지 CEO를 역임했습니다. 이는 회사가 특수 관리에 들어간 이틀 후의 일입니다. 2026년 8월 17일자 최종 통지서에 따르면 그는 고위 관리자가 적절한 기술, 주의 및 신중함을 발휘해야 한다는 규제 요구를 위반했으며, 적격하고 적절한 인물이 아니라고 판단되었습니다. 이 금지는 그가 FCA 승인 회사를 대상으로 하는 모든 고위 관리 또는 실질적인 영향력 직책을 수행하는 것을 금지합니다.

The fine is a reduction from the £84,600 penalty the FCA originally decided on in 2024년 4월, when it acted against three SVS individuals. Hadjigeorgiou referred that decision to the Upper Tribunal, the court that hears appeals of FCA enforcement, then withdrew the reference after both sides agreed to settle. The regulator recategorised his role in one episode (a 10% markdown applied to customers’ bond holdings when they sold) from an integrity breach to a competence breach, with no change to the underlying factual findings.

수수료 기반 비즈니스 모델

The final notice describes a firm engineered to move pension savings into illiquid fixed income products run by connected parties. SVS operated four model portfolios holding money inside self-invested personal pensions. Of the £69.6 million 879 customers invested, around 63% sat in fixed income products by 2019년 7월, each carrying commission paid to SVS out of the principal customers handed over:

• CFBL Bonds: £23.9 million 투자, CFBL이 지급한 10–12% 수수료; 해당 채권은 2020년 4월에 쿠폰 지급이 채무불이행 되었으며 고객은 20–35% 회수될 것으로 예상됩니다.
• ICFL Bond: £9.8 million 투자, 10% 수수료 적용, 그 중 SVS가 사전 실사 없이 선불로 £750,000을 대출 형태로 인출함
• Ingard Property Bonds: £5.7 million 투자, 10% 플러스 2% 수수료; SVS는 이미 투자 약속을 한 상태에서 하나의 채권을 상장 및 등급 부여하도록 지원함
• Angelfish preference shares: £3.1 million 투자, 9–10% 수수료 적용, SVS 이사가 Angelfish 이사회에 참여함; 해당 주식은 2019년 6월에 배당금을 지급하지 않음

The commission flow then funded the distribution machine. SVS paid unauthorised introducers 7–9% of whatever customer funds they steered in, and more than half the model portfolio customers arrived through an advice firm controlled by the owners of one of those introducers. Under the FCA’s inducements rule in force since 2018년 1월 3일, firms cannot accept third-party commission for services to retail clients, a rule the notice says Hadjigeorgiou, as director and chief executive, should have ensured SVS followed. He was also aware the FCA had warned SVS in 2018년 1월 about concentration in CFBL bonds and about the quality of its due diligence; SVS gave a written assurance it would reduce the concentration, then invested a further £5.1 million in CFBL’s Series 9.

10% 마크다운

In 2018년 11월, with SVS facing liquidity problems, its board approved a 10% markdown on the fixed income holdings of any customer who disinvested. It applied regardless of how long they had held the investment, contradicting the firm’s own brochure, and was not disclosed in writing to customers, their pension trustees, or their advisers for six months. Staff raised fairness concerns with the board and compliance at least nine times between 2018년 11월 and 2019년 2월. Customers disinvested £5,784,000 under the policy, generating £359,800 for SVS.

The notice’s case studies show what that meant at account level. One customer, a personal assistant earning around £31,000 a year, lost £10,621 to the markdown; when she complained, SVS told her it did not apply exit charges and attributed the loss to a “wider spread” on the bonds. Another customer, a 60-year-old carer with an annual income of £4,700, lost £3,590.

벌금 산정 방식

The FCA’s five-step penalty framework for individuals starts from relevant income: Hadjigeorgiou’s total earnings at SVS over the breach period of 2018년 1월 3일 to 2019년 8월 2일, which the notice puts at £282,243. Finding no direct financial benefit to disgorge at step one, the regulator assessed the breach at seriousness level three of five: the level-four factor of significant consumer loss applied, but the conduct was negligent rather than deliberate or reckless. Twenty percent of relevant income produced £56,448, with no adjustment for mitigation or deterrence and no settlement discount — the case settled too late in the process to earn one. Rounded down, the penalty is £56,400.

합의 후 남은 사항

Hadjigeorgiou will pay in 48 monthly instalments of £1,175 beginning 2026년 9월 1일 — an instalment structure the FCA typically agrees when an individual demonstrates limited means. A missed payment makes the full balance due immediately.

The settlement also splits the SVS enforcement into three different end states. Kulvir Virk, the former CEO and majority shareholder, did not refer his case and was fined £215,500 and banned from financial services in 2024. David Stephen, the former head of compliance, referred his £52,100 decision notice to the Upper Tribunal and continues to contest it; his hearing remains pending, and the findings against him stay provisional. The notices warn that Hadjigeorgiou’s final notice contains criticisms of Stephen that he disputes and that no tribunal has tested.

Customers, meanwhile, have been in the Financial Services Compensation Scheme’s claims process since 2020년 8월 10일. The UK lifeboat fund compensates eligible investors when a failed firm cannot pay, up to £85,000 per person per firm for investment business — relevant here because SVS was dissolved on 2023년 8월 10일 and the defaulted bonds themselves are expected to return only a fraction of invested principal.

The enforcement arc also shows where individual accountability lands relative to customer loss. SVS itself is gone; what remains is a seven-year process that produced one contested tribunal case still to be heard, two settled bans, and a compensation scheme working through 879 customers’ claims.