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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallBelgium’s Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) imposed 13 administrative sanctions totaling €2,249,602 for violations of financial legislation during 2019. The figure was announced on January 27, 2020.
It was not one €2.25 million penalty, and the FSMA did not describe all 13 cases as conventional fines. Twelve cases ended in negotiated administrative settlements, while one resulted in a formal €2,500 fine from the FSMA Sanctions Committee.
How the €2,249,602 total was calculated
The total combined two different types of administrative action:
| Type of action | Number of cases | Total amount |
|---|---|---|
| Administrative settlements accepted by the FSMA Management Committee | 12 | €2,247,102 |
| Sanctions Committee decision | 1 | €2,500 |
| Total | 13 | €2,249,602 |
The FSMA’s 2019 annual report says the 12 settlements generated €2,247,102 for the Belgian Treasury. The separate €2,500 penalty was imposed on a company that acted as a consumer-credit intermediary without the required FSMA registration.
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Settlements were not the same as formal fines
The FSMA’s announcement uses the broader language of “administrative sanctions” and refers to administrative fines. More specifically, the 2019 total comprised:
- Twelve negotiated settlements, known as règlements transactionnels in French and minnelijke schikkingen in Dutch; and
- One formal administrative fine imposed by the Sanctions Committee.
A settlement could conclude an investigation where the person or business concerned had cooperated with the investigation and agreed in advance to the proposed terms. The FSMA Management Committee then decided whether to accept the settlement following a proposal from the auditor.
That distinction matters when interpreting headlines about “13 fines.” The official count was 13 administrative sanctions, but only one of those cases was a Sanctions Committee fine. The other 12 were negotiated resolutions.
What conduct led to the sanctions?
The cases covered several areas of financial regulation. They were not all insider-trading cases. The FSMA’s annual report identified matters involving:
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- Late disclosure of inside information;
- Insurance companies working with intermediaries who were not properly registered;
- Insurance-intermediary registration and responsible-person requirements;
- A listed-company director’s failure to report transactions in the company’s shares; and
- Advertising and disclosure requirements for financial products.
One complex market-abuse settlement involved the takeover of shares in one company by another, followed by an indirect resale to a third company. The FSMA identified alleged insider dealing, market manipulation through misleading statements and late disclosure of inside information. The parties paid a combined €1.4 million, which the annual report described as the largest administrative sanction imposed by the FSMA at that time.
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Other disclosed settlement amounts included:
| Issue | Amount |
|---|---|
| Financial analyst and alleged insider dealing | €57,102.56 |
| Listed-company director who failed to report share transactions | €50,000 |
| Insurance intermediary that failed to maintain and report sufficient responsible persons | €35,000 |
| Insurance companies whose website advertising lacked required information | €60,000 |
Four settlements involved insurance companies that had worked with insurance intermediaries whose registrations were either missing or expired. The FSMA described its approach to that issue as a zero-tolerance policy.
The separate €2,500 registration case
The smallest sanction in the total followed a formal Sanctions Committee procedure rather than a negotiated settlement. The committee found that De More BVBA had carried out consumer-credit-intermediary activities without FSMA registration, contrary to Article VII.184, §1, first paragraph, of the Belgian Code of Economic Law.
The decision included:
- A €2,500 administrative fine;
- Full publication of the decision identifying the company; and
- Replacement of that publication after six months with a version omitting personal data.
The annual report states that no appeal was filed against the decision.
Thirteen sanctions did not mean 13 investigations opened that year
The FSMA opened 18 new investigation files in 2019, while it imposed 13 administrative sanctions. Those figures measure different stages of enforcement and should not be treated as interchangeable.
An investigation opened in 2019 could remain unresolved at year-end, close without a sanction, be referred to the Sanctions Committee or result in a settlement at a later date. Likewise, a sanction imposed in 2019 may have followed an investigation opened before that year.
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The longer-term enforcement picture
Since the introduction of the newer FSMA sanctions procedure in 2013, the authority had imposed 73 administrative sanctions totaling more than €18 million by the end of 2019.
That cumulative number included more than market-abuse cases. The FSMA’s enforcement work also covered insurance distribution, financial-product advertising, reporting obligations and registration requirements. For consumers and firms, the practical message is that compliance exposure can arise from routine operational failures—not only from suspected insider trading or market manipulation.
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Do not misdate the ESMA comparison
The January 2020 FSMA announcement also referred to an ESMA comparison of insider-dealing sanctions. That comparison concerned 2018, not FSMA enforcement during 2019.
According to the comparison, Belgium recorded seven administrative sanctions for insider dealing in 2018. Those seven were imposed by the FSMA, out of 13 administrative insider-dealing sanctions across Europe during that year.
That statistic should not be presented as evidence that the FSMA imposed seven—or any particular number of—insider-dealing sanctions in 2019. It was a comparison of 2018 sanctions reported by ESMA in December 2019.
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Why the figure matters for consumers and businesses
For consumers, registration and disclosure rules are safeguards. Before using a credit intermediary, insurance intermediary or other regulated financial service, check whether the firm appears in the FSMA’s official registers. A missing or expired registration can indicate that a business is operating outside the regulatory framework.
For firms and professionals, the 2019 cases show that enforcement risk extends beyond headline market-abuse offenses. Working with an improperly registered intermediary, failing to report a director’s share transaction or publishing incomplete financial-product advertising can also lead to regulatory action.
The FSMA maintains a public overview of administrative sanctions, including historical settlement decisions. The original announcement and the authority’s annual report provide the appropriate sources for checking the amounts and legal context.
Sources
- FSMA announcement in English, published January 27, 2020.
- FSMA 2019 annual report.
- Sanctions Committee decision concerning De More BVBA.
- FSMA administrative sanctions database.
FAQ
Did the FSMA issue €2,249,602 in fines in 2019?
The more precise answer is that Belgium’s FSMA imposed 13 administrative sanctions totaling €2,249,602. Twelve were negotiated settlements worth €2,247,102, and one was a formal €2,500 Sanctions Committee fine.
Was the €2,249,602 one penalty against one company?
No. It was the combined amount from 13 separate administrative sanctions. The largest disclosed matter involved a combined €1.4 million payment by several parties.
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Were all 13 cases about insider trading?
No. The cases also involved insurance distribution, intermediary registration, financial-product advertising, transaction-reporting obligations and other financial-law requirements.
When did the FSMA announce the 2019 sanctions total?
The FSMA published the announcement on January 27, 2020, reporting sanctions imposed during calendar year 2019.
How many investigations did the FSMA open in 2019?
The FSMA opened 18 new investigation files in 2019. That is separate from the 13 sanctions imposed and does not mean every investigation produced a penalty.
What was the €2,500 FSMA case?
The Sanctions Committee fined De More BVBA €2,500 for acting as a consumer-credit intermediary without FSMA registration. The decision was published with the company’s identity, and no appeal was filed.
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Bottom line: In 2019, Belgium’s Financial Services and Markets Authority imposed 13 administrative sanctions totaling €2,249,602. Twelve were negotiated settlements worth €2,247,102, while the remaining €2,500 was a formal Sanctions Committee fine against an unregistered consumer-credit intermediary. The total covered a range of financial-law breaches, not one single market-abuse case or one penalty against one firm.
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