FSA fines investment firm £56,000 for selling high-risk products

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined investment firm Accendo Markets £56,000 after it failed to ensure its customers were suitable for high-risk products.

The regulator said Accendo failed to have adequate risk management systems in place while it provided advice to customers in contracts for differences (CFDs). The FSA said the firm had failed to gather adequate client information before providing advice, and had failed to keep records of customers' trading strategies. It also failed to have a robust compliance monitoring programme in place. The FSA added Accendo had failed to take reasonable care to organise its affairs responsibly, after it used brokers who did not hold the qualification prescribed by the FSA and failed to distinguis...