The FCA has found that Mr Eber lacked integrity as his conduct gave the misleading impression that SLS bonds were soundly backed assets when he had grave concerns about their viability. He also failed to inform the FCA of these concerns.
Mr Eber was the CEO and director of CIB from 5 September 2007 until 15 September 2010. CIB ceased to exist on 10 April 2012 when it was dissolved and struck off the UK Register of Companies.
Between September 2007 and mid-2009, CIB was engaged as an adviser to SLS Capital S.A. (SLS), a Luxembourg-based special purpose vehicle. SLS issued bonds underpinning investments which were sold to investors in the UK.
In September 2007, Mr Eber became aware that without continuous cash injections, there was a high risk that the SLS portfolio would suffer from severe liquidity issues within a year. He was also aware by August 2008, that SLS had sold off most of the asset portfolio that underpinned the SLS bonds.
Despite this knowledge, Mr Eber issued a number of false and misleading documents about the strength of the SLS portfolio. He also failed to disclose to the then FSA his knowledge of the extent of the problems with the SLS portfolio or his knowledge of the sale of the underlying SLS assets.
