Christopher Ross White was director of Swansea-based Rock Law which went into liquidation in November 2015 owing £1,209,601 to creditors, including the £567,423 Ministry of Justice (MoJ) fine.
The MoJ’s investigation found multiple failings by Rock Law, that it:
- was contracting with clients during the initial sales call or shortly afterwards, not allowing clients sufficient time to consider pre-contractual documentation;
- failed to monitor sales agents and failed to exercise sufficient control over them and/or failed to ensure that the training of staff was adequate resulting in staff giving misleading content during sales calls;
- failed to maintain appropriate records and audit trails showing the company had conducted itself responsibly overall, acted with professional diligence and complied with the rules; as a consequence of the lack of records, was unable to evidence compliance with the CAPR.
Insolvency Service chief investigator of insolvent investigations, Midlands & West Sue Macleod, said the regulations were there to protect the general public from overzealous sales techniques.
“Directors have a duty to ensure they exercise reasonable skill, care and diligence over company operations and that they do not allow the company to breach legislation resulting in financial penalties which impact upon the company continued success,” she said.
“This should serve as a warning to other directors who may feel tempted to breach legislation intended to serve as protection for the public.”
