| Newsflash Details | |||
| Title | FSA fines former Northern Rock director £320,000 | ||
| Description | The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined David Jones, the former finance director of Northern Rock £320,00 for misreporting mortgage arrears figures. The regulator has also prohibited Mr Jones from performing any function in relation to regulated activity. The FSA said Mr Jones’s misconduct started in mid January 2007 when he agreed, along with the former Northern Rock deputy chief executive, David Baker, to allow false mortgage arrears figures to appear in the 2006 annual accounts. Reporting correct figures would have either increased arrears by over 50 per cent or possessions figures by approximately 300 per cent. The regulator said Mr Jones was responsible for the continued misreporting of arrears and possessions figures on a monthly basis for nearly a year to Northern Rock’s assets and liabilities committee and, on a quarterly basis, to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). The FSA found from 2005, Northern Rock staff were under pressure to report arrears figures at half the CML average. To achieve this, a series of improper actions were taken which were outside Northern Rock’s stated policy. For example, cases where a possession order had been made against a property, but where physical possession had not yet been taken were excluded from all arrears and possessions figures. Mr Jones received a 20 per cent discount for settling in stage two of the FSA’s executive settlement procedures. Were it not for this discount, Mr Jones would have been fined £400,000. Margaret Cole, director of enforcement and financial crime at the FSA, said even though other senior directors within the firm were involved, as a senior director and an FSA authorised person Mr Jones had a duty to reveal the true position. She said: "He had numerous opportunities to put things right, but failed to do so. "This is a message to all FSA approved persons, that they must take their individual responsibilities seriously at all times, or suffer the consequences." | ||
| Event date | 27/07/2010 | Source | Financial Times (www.ft.com) |
| Country | United Kingdom | Amount | 320,000.00 GBP |
| Involved | Jones, David; Northern Rock | ||
| Business line | Corporate Services | ||
