(Bloomberg) -- The Financial Conduct Authority fined Wise Plc Chief Executive Officer Kristo Käärmann after he failed to notify the watchdog of significant tax issues. 

The move stems from actions by Käärmann in 2021, the FCA said in a statement on Monday. In February of that year, the executive paid a significant fine of £365,651 to HM Revenue & Customs and seven months later he was added to HMRC’s public tax defaulters list.

Käärmann did not notify the FCA of the tax issues throughout that time even though they were relevant to the agency’s assessment of his “fitness and propriety.” 

“We, and the public, expect high standards from leaders of financial firms, including being frank and open,” Therese Chambers, the FCA’s joint executive director of enforcement and oversight said in the statement. “It should have been obvious to Mr Käärmann that he needed to tell us about these issues.”

Käärmann would have been fined £500,000, but qualified for a 30% discount after he agreed to resolve the matters.

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