FCA fine would stifle speech, says bank boss

Monday, June 8, 2026

Carlos Fuenmayor, CEO of BancTrust, is legally contesting a £99,600 fine from the UK Financial Conduct Authority for allegedly failing to disclose previous regulatory sanctions from Venezuela and the US. He argues the penalty is politically motivated and threatens freedom of expression, as the withheld information relates to repressive actions by the Maduro regime that he says he was not obligated to report under UK law.

Carlos Fuenmayor, chief executive of London-based emerging-market debt trader BancTrust, has contested a proposed fine from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), arguing that the regulator’s actions undermine freedom of expression. The Venezuelan-born executive faces a £99,600 penalty for allegedly failing to disclose previous regulatory sanctions imposed by authorities in Venezuela and the United States.

The FCA’s charges stem from Fuenmayor’s omission to report a 2019 fine and suspension by the US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra), as well as the freezing of his Venezuelan bank accounts by Caracas financial intelligence authorities. According to FCA documents, these failures amounted to negligence. Fuenmayor has launched legal proceedings at London’s Upper Tribunal to challenge the fine, contending that it would have a chilling effect on lawful speech within the regulated community.

Fuenmayor argues that the actions taken by Venezuelan authorities were politically motivated reprisals linked to his outspoken opposition to the Maduro regime. In November 2019, shortly after sponsoring a UK event supporting human rights in Venezuela and condemning then-president Nicolás Maduro, the Unidad Nacional de Inteligencia Financiera froze his companies’ accounts in Venezuela. His lawyers have maintained that the UK government’s non-recognition of Maduro’s regime means he was under no obligation to disclose these measures to the FCA. They noted the frozen accounts now hold negligible value, reportedly less than one US cent, and thus had no material impact on him or BancTrust.

The BancTrust chief, who became a British citizen after relocating to the UK and assuming his role in 2018, acknowledged a delay in disclosing his Finra sanction, attributing it to his residence in the US at the time and what he described as a “poorly designed” FCA disclosure form. In 2021, he informed the FCA about a 15-month suspension and $20,000 penalty Finra imposed on him in 2019 for a registration-related technical breach. He has said that the penalty did not restrict his ability to work following the suspension and that he subsequently retook the required exams.

Fuenmayor’s legal team argue that the delayed disclosure resulted from a misunderstanding of cross-jurisdictional requirements and falls short of the threshold necessary to establish negligence under English law. The FCA, however, has maintained that the Finra penalty and suspension demonstrate the seriousness of the breach.

Earlier this year, the FCA had considered imposing a larger fine of £350,000 and a ban on Fuenmayor but revised its stance after his challenge. The regulator declined further comment, citing ongoing legal proceedings. Fuenmayor, meanwhile, expressed concern that the FCA’s position could lend undue legitimacy to repressive measures taken by authoritarian regimes against those advocating democratic values and freedom of expression.