The billionaire co-founder of the money transfer firm Wise was hit with a $454 million fine in Britain for failing to report an issue with his tax filings. File Photo by Pat Benic/UPI | License Photo
The billionaire co-founder of the money transfer firm Wise was hit with a $454,000 fine in Britain for failing to report an issue with his tax filings.
Wise’s CEO Kristo Kaarmann was hit by the Financial Conduct Authority for failing notify it about him not paying capital gains taxes when he collected shares amounting to $12.98 million in 2017. Advertisement
“The FCA issued the fine after determining that Mr. Kaarmann was in breach of Senior Management Conduct Rue 4, which states: ‘You must disclose appropriately any information of which the FCA would reasonably expect notice,'” the FCA said in a statement.
“As a senior manager at Wise Assets U.K. Ltd., the FCA expected Mr. Kaarmann to have self-notified of any matters that may have significant to his fitness and propriety, which included matters that may have an adverse impact on his reputation and/or his firm.”
The regulator said it added Kaarmann to its public tax defaulters list in September 2021 and said between February 2021 and September 2021 that those matters and “circumstances surrounding them” were relevant to its assessment of his fitness and propriety.
The FCA said agreeing to resolve the tax matter, Kaarmann received a 30% break on what he could have been penalized. Advertisement
The authority said financial officials had been in touch with Kaarmann since 2020 attempting to get him to resolve the tax issue involving the shares.
