Banque Havilland Loses UK Appeal Over Qatar Currency Plot as Tribunal Slashes Fine

Luxembourg-based Banque Havilland has failed to overturn sanctions imposed by Britain’s financial watchdog over an alleged scheme connected to efforts to weaken Qatar’s currency, though a UK tribunal has significantly reduced the financial penalty. In a ruling issued on Tuesday, London’s Upper Tribunal rejected the bank’s appeal against the Financial Conduct Authority’s findings but lowered the fine to £4mn from the original £10mn.

The tribunal also upheld penalties imposed on two former senior figures at the bank, maintaining a £352,000 fine against former chief executive Edmund Roland and a £14,200 fine against former employee Vladimir Bolelyy. In addition, it confirmed the FCA’s decision to ban both individuals from working in financial services for life. Shortly before the hearing began, Banque Havilland changed its name and now operates as Rangecourt.

The bank’s regulatory troubles extend beyond the UK. In 2024, the European Central Bank withdrew Banque Havilland’s operating licence, a decision that remains under appeal. The FCA first announced in 2023 that it planned to fine the bank after discovering a presentation that laid out a strategy aimed at exerting pressure on Qatari bonds during a period of heightened regional tension, as part of a broader plan to devalue the Qatari riyal.

According to the regulator, the presentation was developed as part of an attempt to pitch the bank’s services to Mubadala Investment Company, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund. The document was prepared against the backdrop of the diplomatic and economic crisis that erupted in 2017, when Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a blockade on Qatar, accusing it of supporting Islamist groups and maintaining close relations with Iran.

An FCA investigation concluded that Banque Havilland had devised the plan—initially titled “Setting fire to the neighbour’s house fund”—with the intention of damaging the Qatari riyal through manipulative trading strategies. The regulator said the objective was to force a devaluation of the currency and ultimately break its peg to the US dollar, causing harm to Qatar’s economy.

Banque Havilland, which is owned by David “Spotty” Rowland, the father of Edmund Roland, has consistently denied that it ever intended to carry out the transactions described in the presentation. The bank has argued that the material was obtained through hacking and later leaked without authorisation. It referred the FCA’s enforcement action to the Upper Tribunal, asserting that the conduct of individual employees should not be legally attributed to the institution itself.

The tribunal dismissed that argument, finding that the behaviour in question amounted to serious regulatory failings that “encouraged the commission of financial crime and market misconduct”. Commenting on the outcome, Steve Smart, the FCA’s executive director for enforcement and market oversight, said: “Motivated by greed, Banque Havilland, Mr Rowland and Mr Bolelyy had a plan to seriously damage the Qatari economy. It is right that they have been held to account.”

The FCA had also previously fined a third employee, David Weller, £54,000 for his involvement in the misconduct. Unlike his former colleagues, Weller did not challenge the regulator’s decision before the tribunal.

By fLEXI tEAM