Sanction 14665

The Financial Supervisory Authority of the Central Bank of Iceland concluded this case by way of settlement and the payment of an administrative fine for a breach of various articles of MiFID II. The company’s violations are in relation to the 2022 state sale of a 22,5% stake in a commercial bank where the company acted as one of the domestic managers of the offering. The company’s violations concern shortcomings in telephone recording practices under Art. 16(7) of MiFID II and failures in client categorization under Annex II of MiFID II. In particular, the client categorization was carried out after the offering had already started and the conditions set out in Annex II were not fulfilled for two clients. In addition to this, the company breached its duty to act honestly, fairly and professionally in accordance with the best interests of its clients under Art. 24(1) of MiFID II, as it did not comply with the terms of an offering intended exclusively for professional clients. The Financial Supervisory Authority decided to conclude the case by way of settlement and the payment of an administrative fine in the amount of 9.500.000 ISK.