Tribunal upholds FCA ruling against former Metro Bank chiefs

Published on

The Upper Tribunal has upheld the Financial Conduct Authority’s decision to censure Craig Donaldson and David Arden, the former chief executive and chief financial officer of Metro Bank, for their roles in a serious breach of the Listing Rules.

The ruling confirms that both executives were knowingly concerned in the publication of materially inaccurate information to the market. At the heart of the case was a statement made by Metro Bank on 24 October 2018, in which it reported its risk weighted assets (RWA) and associated capital ratios without disclosing a significant error known internally at the time.

As a listed entity, Metro Bank was required to provide quarterly updates on its prudential position, including its RWA figures, which are fundamental to assessing a bank’s regulatory capital requirements. Despite being aware of the material misstatement, neither Mr Donaldson nor Mr Arden took action to correct the information or alert the market.

The discrepancy was not disclosed until January 2019, triggering a 39% drop in the bank’s share price once corrected figures were published. In December 2022, the FCA fined Metro Bank £10,002,300 for the breach, citing a failure to comply with its obligations under the Listing Rules.

Mr Donaldson and Mr Arden, who held their respective executive roles at the time of the October 2018 announcement, were both found to have played active roles in the decision to release the inaccurate data.

Steve Smart, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: “Investors make decisions based on information shared by listed companies. They must be able to trust it’s accurate. Mr Arden and Mr Donaldson allowed information they knew to be wrong to be published.”

COMMENT ON MORTGAGE SOUP

We want to hear from you!
Leave a comment and get the conversation started.
You need to register to post, so please login or sign up below.

Latest articles

Market Harborough broadens tier two mortgage criteria to boost complex case lending

Market Harborough Building Society has introduced a series of criteria enhancements to its tier...

Coventry for intermediaries reduces rates across residential and buy-to-let ranges

Coventry for intermediaries has announced rate cuts of up to 19 basis points, with...

Halifax cuts remortgage rates across selected two and five-year fixed deals

Halifax Intermediaries has announced a series of rate cuts across its remortgage product range,...

The Leeds reports £104m profit amid robust lending and savings growth

Leeds Building Society has reported a profit before tax of £104.4 million for the...

Annual house price growth picks up as affordability improves

The UK housing market showed renewed resilience in July, with house prices rising by...

Latest publication

Latest opinions

Job cuts to inflation shock: preparing for a mortgage arrears crisis

The latest data on jobs paints a picture of a rapidly weakening labour market. The...

URGENT! AI Is coming for you. Or maybe not…

I’ll try to make this as straight to the point as I can. The...

Mind the gap: Can mortgage advice change the game for protection?

Many industry insiders still talk about the UK protection gap and how vast it...

Navigating HMO and MUFB complexity with confidence

Historically, larger Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) and Multi-Unit Freehold Blocks (MUFBs) have often...

Other news

Market Harborough broadens tier two mortgage criteria to boost complex case lending

Market Harborough Building Society has introduced a series of criteria enhancements to its tier...

Coventry for intermediaries reduces rates across residential and buy-to-let ranges

Coventry for intermediaries has announced rate cuts of up to 19 basis points, with...

Halifax cuts remortgage rates across selected two and five-year fixed deals

Halifax Intermediaries has announced a series of rate cuts across its remortgage product range,...