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Abu Dhabi financial free zone regulators have imposed a total fine of $12 million on Hayvn Group, related entities and its former CEO for regulatory breaches.
Fines totalling $8.85 million have been levied by Abu Dhabi Global Market's Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA), while ADGM's Registration Authority (RA) has imposed fines of $3.6 million, the financial free zone said in separate statements on Monday.
The former CEO Christopher Flinos has also been barred indefinitely from transacting business in ADGM.
The actions of the entities and individuals involved were particularly serious, as they conducted unauthorised Virtual Asset activities through an unregulated entity based in ADGM, the statement said.
Details of the fines imposed by FSRA, totalling $8.85 million:
-$3.6 million against AC Holding Ltd. registered in the Cayman Islands, the parent company of a group of entities operating under the name ‘Hayvn’. The entity that provided financial services related to virtual assets
-$3 million against AC Limited (Hayvn), an ADGM-based subsidiary of Hayvn Cayman. It was licensed and regulated by the FSRA to conduct specific financial services activities in virtual assets
-$1.5 million against AC Holding Limited, a special purpose vehicle registered with the Registration Authority of ADGM. It was not licensed by the FSRA to carry out any form of financial services activity in ADGM
-$750,000 against Flinos, the former senior executive officer of Hayvn ADGM, CEO of Hayvn Cayman, sole owner and director of AC Holding
Details of the fines imposed by RA, totalling $3.61 million:
-$15,000 against AC Holding for exceeding the scope of its license in contravention of ADGM Commercial Licensing Regulations 2015
- $300,000 against AC Holding for filing false annual accounts about its balances with the RA and various fraudulent schemes in contravention of the ADGM Companies Regulations 2020
- $3.3 million against Christopher Flinos for providing false information to the RA, engaging in various fraudulent schemes and the falsification of company documents in contravention of the ADGM Companies Regulations 2020.
(Writing by Brinda Darasha; editing by Seban Scaria)
