FSCA defends R2bn enforcement action against Banxso as liquidation process unfolds

THE Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has defended its regulatory action against online trading platform Banxso and its directors, saying it followed due process in a complex investigation that ultimately led to the freezing of the company's bank accounts and its provisional liquidation.

- SIPHELELE DLUDLA

This comes after the FSCA imposed a staggering R2 billion in administrative penalties on Banxso and its key individuals for a range of serious financial misconduct offences.

Alongside the hefty penalty confirmed on Banxso and its directors, Harel Adam Sekler and Warwick David Sneider, the regulator also levied an additional fine of R16 million on the company for various other contraventions.

Individual penalties were imposed on directors Manuel de Andrade, Mohammed Bux, and Henry James Simpson, amounting to R20m, R10m, and R5m, respectively.

All four directors - Sekler, Sneider, de Andrade, and Bux - face a blanket debarment from the industry for a period of 30 years, while Simpson has received a lesser debarment of 10 years.

Responding to questions from Business Report on Friday, the regulator said that following the announcement of administrative penalties against Banxso and its directors, the safeguarding of client funds now falls largely within the liquidation process.