The Turkish oil executive was fined for insider trading of shares from Heritage Oil Plc. The FSA also fined Murat Ozgul who is Sepil Chief Commercial Officer and exploration manager Levent Akca. This came about when the men purchased shares when they were told that the company had struck oil in the Kurdish region of Iraq. The next day the company announced their findings lifting its shares 25 percent.

The men shave denied in a statement that had in fact they were unaware their actions broke any rules. The FSA have said that they had decided against launching criminal proceedings because it accepted their pleas, “We do want people to be aware that coming forward does bring benefits,” Margaret Cole, the FSA’s director of enforcement at the FSA.

This fine exceeds the 750,000 pounds given to Philippe Jabre, the former hedge fund manager at GLG Partners Inc., in 2006. To read more on this story go to businessweek.com.

According to the Financial Services Authority (FSA) repossessions have increased by almost 50 percent, and there has been a jump of 13.5 percent seeing 310,000 borrowers that are behind on their mortgage payments.

The UKs financial watchdog report showed that 310,000 borrowers were unable to pay back their mortgage loan in the second quarter of 2008. This jumped from 270,000 from the same time in 2007.

Loans that were in arrears shot up by a staggering 10,500 in the first quarter of 2008. Making 2.58 percent of all outstanding home loans being problem mortgages.

In the report from the FSA which compiled data from 300 mortgage administrators and lenders, showed that Repossessions surged to 11,000 in the second quarter, a year previous the repossession figure stood at 6,500, with the first three months of 2008 seeing it jump to 9,100.

First-time buyers could face negative equity as property prices have fallen a shocking 12 percent since its summer peak in 2007.

A mortgage in arrears is defined by the FSA as a mortgage that has missed payments which adds up to 1.5 percent of the loan amount.

Source: Citywire

The British financial watchdog the FSA is looking at ways to tighten its grip on Payment Protection Insurance providers, the FSA have been investigating how the insurance is sold alongside personal loans.

The FSA said that it was “escalating” its regulatory intervention on PPI sales due to what it found in its investigation. They will be putting in measures to protect the consumers and will be considering what regulatory powers are the most appropriate to deliver a fair outcome, this could lead to fining the providers of the insurance product.

The Financial watchdog’s investigations showed that some customers were not told the monthly cost of their PPI when it was sold along with an unsecured personal loan, although at a time of increasing indebtedness and unemployment it is essential for people to protect themselves against losing their income.

The FSA have said that they should have an outcome on the investigation by the first quarter of 2009.

Read the full article in the ukreuters

Short-selling had a four month ban imposed on it from The Financial Services Authority (FSA) last week as it was deemed un-ethical as people were exploiting the difficult economic situation the financial institutions are in.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said that he may bring in rules to control short-selling which is where a short-seller “borrows” shares and sell them, aiming to profit by buying the shares back later at a lower price.

Banks such as HBOS have allegedly been targeted by short-sellers, as a result HBOS shares took a dramatic fall and rival Lloyds TSB brought the troubled bank.

In an interview with BBC radio 4 Gordon Brown said it was wrong that “good companies” could be brought down by “speculative activities” in the financial markets. “We’ll be reviewing over the next four months and I think you’ll find new rules for the future.”

One of the biggest short-sellers is New York-based hedge fund manager John Paulson, has his company Paulson & Co has made bets against all of Britain’s banks that include, HBOS, Lloyds TSB, Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays. In answer to the allegations Paulson said his main aim was to make profit for its investors if stocks were rising or falling although he did empathise with the difficulties some financial firms might be going through. It’s said that Paulson whilst betting against the American mortgage market last year made £1.6 billion ($3 billion).

Source: BBC

It was reported on Sunday that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) faces legal action from a group of top hedge funds over the ban on short-selling financial shares in put in place on Thursday. Although the funds involved have not been named, it’s been said that the hedge funds are looking for compensation for losses they suffered as a result of the ban. However, when the FSA was asked about the pending legal action they said they knew nothing about it.

A spokesperson for the FSA said “We’re not aware of any legal challenge. We’re clear that the new code provisions are both valid and necessary.” The FSA have banned short-selling until January 16 2009, the ban stops investors short-selling shares in over 30 financial companies, including UK’s biggest insurers and banks.

Short-selling has been blamed for the decline in stock price of leading financial institutions, as it allows investors to sell borrowed shares in the expectation that their price will fall, allowing them to buy them back at a cheaper price.

Read the full story in reuters

The Financial Service Authority (FSA) yesterday fined Liverpool Victoria bank £840,000 for adding protection insurance policies to customer mortgages without explaining to them that it is not compulsory.

It’s been reported that some lenders are just adding the protection policies to the quotes without a word to the customers, so they end up paying for something they did not necessary need, and in some cases when the customer realised that it was not compulsory, they would then put pressure on them to take it out still.

The FSA also said that they were also guilty of not explaining that the policy premiums were added to the customer loans up front, and failed to tell the customer that there would also be interest added to the policy.

It’s said that 14,500 clients were paying for protection policies that they didn’t fully understand due to lack of no information from the bank; each case on average was paying £1,600 for the protection policies.

The FSA said they have already fined seven other firms for misspelling policies.

It this economic climate we do not want to be paying for something we don’t need, if you use a financial adviser or when implying to a mortgage company, make sure there are no additional policies added to your loan, ask to see any insurance policies on a separate quote.

You may wish to take a payment protection out, so you should ask about this and make your decision if it affordable for you. If you get your quote separate you then can have a chance to shop around, as it can sometimes be cheaper to get cover independently from your mortgage provided

Source: Mirror

Read more UK mortgage news here.

The FSA said that they were banned for failing to meet the regulator’s standards for competence and capability. They also stated that the two brokers failed to put in to place procedures to prevent potentially false applications being submitted through their business.

Whewall and Hewitt also failed to ensure that customers received suitable advice; the FSA has estimated that at least 250 customers were put at risk as a result of receiving unsuitable recommendations.

The firm failed to keep record of sufficient information of customer needs; they also failed to document why it had recommended particular products.

Source

Nasir also submitted seven false mortgage applications as well as withholding information from the FSA investigators, who was not told about County Court Judgment (CCJ) that had been made against her in 2005.

This is the first time that the FSA has taken the steps to ban as well as fine a broker for fraud; they have said that they hope that this six figure sum will send a message to any potential future mortgage fraudsters.

The FSA has banned a number of brokers this year in connection with mortgage fraud; it seems that brokers are now facing a difficult time to reach their targets, which is why some decide to take it upon themselves to do anything to achieve a sale.

Last year the FSA made a commitment to increase fines in the retail sector, in the hope that this would act as a deterrent, this recent fine and ban is yet another big step in dealing with mortgage fraud.
Sadia Nasir’s £129,000 fine consists of £100,000 penalty and the other £29,000 is for disgorgement of illicit profits.

Source