Former financial services FD excluded from ICAEW over divorce case

THE ONE-TIME finance director of West Bromwich Building Society and Kensington Group has been excluded from ICAEW membership and ordered to pay £20,000 in costs after failing to disclose that he held shares in a company during his divorce settlement.

Simon Kingdon had to pay nearly £500,000 to his wife following a court case, after she had discovered that he held 200,000 shares in Money Partners Holdings (MPH) – a fact that was undisclosed during their divorce settlement process.

He moved from his role as Kensington Group FD to MPH in 2004, having earlier borrowed money from Barclays to purchase 200,000 £1 ordinary shares in MPH. Kingdon sold nearly half the shares in 2006, making a net gain of £1.3m.

In civil proceedings brought by his former wife, he was ordered to pay her £481,000. His appeal was then subsequently dismissed, where Lord Justice Wilson referred to Kingdon's "lies".

In the ICAEW tribunal, Kingdon's counsel said he had not acted dishonestly: the shares investment would make no difference to the assets as the value of the shares minus the loan to purchase them gave a nil net effect.

The tribunal found that the compelling evidence of Kingdon's dishonesty, and excluded him for at least two years, and ordered him to pay costs of £20,000.