FCA bans Kasim Garipoglu from working in UK financial services

Kasim Garipoglu has been banned from working in UK financial services. The FCA found he is not fit and proper because of his lack of honesty and integrity.  

Mr Garipoglu is the owner of a firm that provided online trading of foreign exchange and contracts.

Between April 2012 and December 2022, including when Mr Garipoglu was the chief executive and director at the firm and an approved person, he repeatedly demonstrated a disregard for regulatory requirements, undermined compliance and anti‑money laundering controls, and positively encouraged serious misconduct amongst his colleagues.

He repeatedly overruled those advising him that his instructions were illegal and in breach of regulatory requirements. He consistently prioritised commercial advantage over regulatory requirements, including by regarding the potential for regulatory fines to be a business risk worth taking. 

He also deliberately provided false and misleading information to the FCA and other regulators, instructed the forgery of a document to evidence that an employee lived at a UK address with him when neither of them did so, falsified a university degree certificate for himself and made inaccurate declarations to the FCA in an authorisation application for another firm which he owned. In one instance, he instructed a colleague to impersonate him in communications and a phone call to the South African regulator.

In another instance, he had his staff take a required anti-money laundering test on his behalf and passed off the result as his own and later denied this to the FCA.

Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: 

'Mr Garipoglu has consistently shown a blatant disregard of regulatory requirements and chose to run his business in a way that carried significant risk that serious money laundering would be facilitated. He has consistently sought to evade accountability for this. His conduct fell far below the standards expected of individuals in senior positions. He poses an ongoing risk to consumers and to the integrity of the UK financial system.'

Notes to editors

1. Read Final Notice 2026: Kasim Garipoglu (PDF) 

2. Fighting financial crime is a priority in the FCA’s 5-year strategy.

3. The FCA enables a fair and thriving financial services market for the good of consumers and the economy. Find out more about the FCA.

4. The firm owned by Mr Garipoglu is no longer authorised by the FCA.

5. This was a complex investigation covering many years of misconduct, during which Mr Garipoglu deliberately obstructed the work of regulators by providing false and misleading information. Mr Garipoglu also sought to oppose the prohibition and attempted to prevent his misconduct from becoming known, referring the FCA’s decision to the tribunal and then commencing an appeal in the Court of Appeal. Both Mr Garipoglu’s tribunal reference and his appeal have since been struck out.

6. Whilst Mr Garipoglu has been prohibited, the FCA has not been able to fine him due to the length of time since he was an approved person.