The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has banned Jeffrey Dawkins, the former chief executive of Vector Wealth Ltd, after he dishonestly acted as a front for a disqualified director using the company to sell high-risk bonds.

Mr Dawkins has also been fined nearly £270,000.

In 2019, Mr Dawkins sold Vector Wealth to a disqualified director who described himself as CEO and wanted to use Vector Wealth’s FCA-authorised status to sell mini-bonds.

Mr Dawkins told the FCA he was still in charge, but the new “CEO” was really running the firm. This deception allowed the disqualified director to promote mini-bonds using the legitimacy of the firm to make them appear safer than they were.

The disqualified director and Kadir Kanizi, a former senior manager at Vector Wealth, promoted the bonds but investors were not properly warned about the risks.

Investors put in £105,000 on average, with one investing £1.1 million. Before seeing the marketing material, they had to confirm they were high net worth or sophisticated investors. Investors are expected to lose about £4 million.

The FCA has banned Mr Kanizi from senior management roles. He was fined for failing to make sure consumers were properly warned about the risks.

The Authority has warned about the risks of investing in mini-bonds and loan notes. A loan note or mini-bond usually involves lending money to a company for a set period in return for interest. If that company fails, consumers could lose every penny.