FCA fines broker Cenkos £530,000 for failed Quindell LSE promotion

Small cap stockbroker Cenkos Securities was fined £530,000 by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on Tuesday for failing as a sponsor to scandal-hit Quindell.

Cenkos advised Quidell, at the time an insurance claims processor and since rejigged and renamed Watchstone, on its failed attempt to move from AIM, the London Stock Exchange’s junior market, to the main market in June 2014.

The FCA said the fine was due to Cenkos’ poor management over its sponsor services business and for not doing enough research when advising Quindell about the move to the premium segment of the main market.

The City watchdog said in a statement: “Cenkos failed to identify and manage properly the key risks relating to whether the client would be able to demonstrate its eligibility for a premium listing.”

Shares in Quindell reached a peak above £62 in the spring of 2014 as it trumpeted its designs on becoming a FTSE 250 company but slumped more than 90% by the end of the year after its promotion was thwarted by a technicality and other scandals engulfed the company and founder Rob Terry, who was later ousted.

In particular the move from AIM to the full list was snagged by a failure to satisfy Listing Rule 6.1.3, which renders ineligible any companies that have undergone a significant change in their scale during the last three years' audited accounts.

Mark Steward, FCA director of enforcement and market oversight, said on Tuesday that: “Sponsor firms have key gatekeeper functions to ensure a candidate for listing is eligible and so they must carry out appropriate due diligence to the requisite standards.

“The FCA will hold sponsor firms strictly accountable whenever these standards are not met given failure places both market integrity and the well-being of the investing public at risk.”

Cenkos said the company had co-operated with the investigation and it had implemented an extensive remediation programme to improve its systems and controls in relation to sponsor services. The company has appointed a head and deputy head of the division and established an additional committee.

Shares in Cenkos Securities were up 4.96% to 127p at 1117 BST and shares in Watchstone were up 0.57% to 222p at 1138 BST.