The Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) announced today that it had reached a settlement with Lambay Capital Limited aka MKW Futures over the investment firm’s violations of the Capital Requirements regulations (CRR) and the MiFID regulations.
As a result of the settlement, dated December 1, 2015, the firm, which is authorized by the CBI to perform the investment services of receipt and transmission of orders, execution of orders on behalf of clients, foreign exchange services and portfolio management, will pay a fine of €49,000 ($53,500).
The fine is related to CBI findings that Lambay overstated its own funds position by including unaudited profit in its quarterly returns and further that it failed to implement adequate accounting procedures and internal control mechanisms specifically in relation to the production of its regulatory returns.
In particular, the company incorrectly overstated its own funds position to the Central Bank on four separate occasions between December 31, 2013 and May 8, 2015. Lambay’s mis-reporting of own funds resulted in the firm repeatedly providing the Central Bank with an inaccurate impression of its capital.
The company also violated Regulation 33(1)(f)(i) of the MiFID Regulations, which requires firms to have in place and implement sound administrative and accounting procedures and internal control mechanisms. Prior to May 2014, the company had no written procedures in place regarding the submission of COREP (Common European Regulatory Reporting) returns.
The CBI imposed the fine under Section 33AQ of the Central Bank Act 1942. The maximum penalty under this section is €10,000,000.
To view the full settlement text, click here.