AT Capital Markets Fined $320K and License Suspended by FSRA

There’s been a development regarding AT Capital Markets Limited, this Tuesday. Namely, the broker has been fined by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) of Abu Dhabi Global Market and had its license suspended.

In particular, the FSRA has fined the UAE broker $320,000 and imposed a $40,000 fine on the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Ryan Tsui, for breaching the requirements of the regulator, according to a statement from the authority released today.

Namely, the regulator has accused AT Capital Markets of conducting regulated activities before it was granted Financial Services Permission and of dealing with retail clients when it was not allowed to do so.

“In light of this conduct, the FSRA also found failures in ATCM’s internal governance, systems and controls, client classification and anti-Money Laundering Money Laundering Money laundering is a blanket term to describe the process by which criminals disguise the original ownership and proceeds of criminal conduct by making such proceeds appear to be derived from a legitimate source.Money laundering is an issue that traverses countless industries and sectors, which includes the financial services space. Though criminal money may be successfully laundered without the assistance of the financial sector, billions of dollars’ worth of criminally derived money are laund Money laundering is a blanket term to describe the process by which criminals disguise the original ownership and proceeds of criminal conduct by making such proceeds appear to be derived from a legitimate source.Money laundering is an issue that traverses countless industries and sectors, which includes the financial services space. Though criminal money may be successfully laundered without the assistance of the financial sector, billions of dollars’ worth of criminally derived money are laund Read this Term processes,” the statement from the regulator said.

“Further, the FSRA’s investigation found that ATCM had provided false and misleading information to the FSRA concerning the nature and scope of its activities, and that ATCM failed to notify the FSRA of alleged misconduct by certain of its employees.”

Tsui has been fined specifically because he was responsible for the day-to-day management of the UAE broker, the authority said. Furthermore, the investigation conducted by the FSRA revealed that he was actively involved in the unauthorized activities and provided misleading and false information to the agency.

AT Capital Markets took immediate action to remedy misconduct

Speaking to Finance Magnates, AT Capital Markets said: "AT Capital Markets Limited (ATCM) deeply regrets the circumstances leading to ADGM’s decision to suspend its license on 17 December 2019. ATCM has endeavored to operate in accordance with ADGM’s regulatory requirements, and it is unfortunate ADGM feels these requirements were not met.

“When the company was made aware of the situation it took immediate action, including dismissing staff who committed misconduct and conducting an investigation. The company promptly remedied the deficiencies once recognised.”

Following the investigation findings, Tsui has agreed to withdraw from his roles as the CEO and as a Licensed Director of AT Capital Markets.