FSA awarded £8k legal costs after winning permissions battle

The regulator cancelled the permission granted to Ayrshire-based JPC - which also provides financial planning and investment advice - in June 2010 after the firm repeatedly refused to comply with FSA request to carry out a supervisory visit of its offices.

JPC then referred the FSA's decision to the Upper Tribunal in July 2010 but it dismissed the reference in August 2011 and subsequently directed the FSA to cancel JPC's permission because of the firm's failure to cooperate with the regulator.

The FSA cancelled the firms' permission on 19 September 2011.

It then applied to the Upper Tribunal to recover its costs, arguing JPC had acted unreasonably in pursuing the Tribunal proceedings after being offered a reasonable settlement in November 2010.

The Upper Tribunal agreed JPC acted unreasonably and awarded the FSA costs of £8,665.60. It said the firm's rejection of what it viewed as a reasonable offer on the part of the FSA amounted to unreasonable conduct.

"This decision emphasises the importance of ensuring that the Upper Tribunal process and the resources of the FSA are not used unnecessarily," said FSA head of retail enforcement Will Amos.

"We believed JPC had acted unreasonably in refusing the FSA's settlement and choosing to make a referral to the Tribunal. By making the costs order against Mr Perman, the Upper Tribunal has endorsed the FSA's message that our resources and the Tribunal process must not be misused."