The Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority has censured and fined Curalia OVV over irregularities that it committed when it appointed a new compliance officer.

The regulator states: "A compliance officer occupies a key function within a company. He is an essential link in ensuring compliance with the rules of conduct which the FSMA ensures. A compliance officer can only be appointed after having been approved by the FSMA. To do this, a company must submit an application to the FSMA."

Curalia - an insurance company and not a private bank, but one whose mistake is nonetheless a salutary lesson for all private banks - had an approved compliance officer until 1 May 2017. The FSMA says, somewhat ambiguously, that it "noted that Curalia had not notified him of his departure at the time." The FSMA was also not informed of the appointment of a new compliance officer on 1 May, even though this should have happened without delay.

It took Curalia more than 25 months to inform the FSMA of these changes. It was not until 6 June that the FSMA received its request for approval for its new compliance officer. The authorisation was issued on 9 September. Consequently, Curalia did not have a compliance officer approved by the FSMA for more than 28 months.