FSA slaps 'aggressive' broker with £235,000 fine and ban

It ruled senior director Meenaz Mehta knew advisers' hard-line sales tactics at broking firm Hythe Securities Limited could pose a risk to customers, who were in danger of receiving unsuitable advice because the firm's controls were too weak to manage such an aggressive sales culture. Hythe was fined £200,000, and Mehta received a £35,000 fine and was banned from holding senior positions in any firm selling penny shares to the public. The FSA Handbook defines a ‘penny share' as a readily realisable security in which the bid-offer spread is 10% or more of the offer price, but not a gov...