Wise—CEO Kristo Käärmann fined £350K by FCA for failing to disclose tax default, added to HMRC defaulters list
UK FCA fined Wise CEO Kristo Käärmann £350,000 for failing to disclose his inclusion on HMRC's deliberate tax defaulters list. Käärmann failed to pay £720,495 in capital gains tax from a 2017 share sale and was separately fined £365,651 by HMRC. The FCA found his approach 'careless rather than deliberate' but his failure to disclose prevented assessment of his fitness for senior management roles.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate Governance | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Tax Practices | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.255 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (medium ×1) × confidence (0.68)× agency (negligent ×0.5)
Evidence (2 signals)
CEO Kristo Käärmann fined £350K by FCA for failing to disclose tax default, added to HMRC defaulters list
UK FCA fined Wise CEO Kristo Käärmann £350,000 for failing to disclose his inclusion on HMRC's deliberate tax defaulters list. Käärmann failed to pay £720,495 in capital gains tax from a 2017 share sale and was separately fined £365,651 by HMRC. The FCA found his approach 'careless rather than deliberate' but his failure to disclose prevented assessment of his fitness for senior management roles.
CEO Kristo Käärmann fined £350K by FCA for failing to disclose tax default, added to HMRC defaulters list
UK FCA fined Wise CEO Kristo Käärmann £350,000 for failing to disclose his inclusion on HMRC's deliberate tax defaulters list. Käärmann failed to pay £720,495 in capital gains tax from a 2017 share sale and was separately fined £365,651 by HMRC. The FCA found his approach 'careless rather than deliberate' but his failure to disclose prevented assessment of his fitness for senior management roles.