The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has handed a £5.95m fine to the former sole controller and chief executive of Indigo Global Partners.

Nailesh Teraiya has also been banned from carrying out any regulated activity, following the FCA’s latest cum-ex case.

The regulator has found that Teraiya was responsible for Indigo’s participation in a sham trading scheme which obtained “repayment” of €91.2m from the Danish tax authority, SKAT. However, this was not a repayment of tax as the claim related to shares that did not exist, no dividends had been paid and no tax had been deducted.

Cum-ex trading was a series of trade strategies which were designed to allegedly exploit tax differences across Europe.

Teraiya’s is the sixth case brought by the FCA in relation to cum-ex trading, with fines for the practice now totalling nearly £22.5m. This work has been facilitated by the extensive engagement between the FCA and global law enforcement authorities.

The FCA also found that in addition to £326,000 received through Indigo, Teraiya received more than £5.1m through third parties in return for his part in the scheme.

As a result, the fine that the FCA has decided to impose seeks to deprive Teraiya of the financial benefit he received from his involvement in the scheme.

“As chief executive of Indigo and an experienced industry professional, Teraiya knew that these were fake trades, supported by fake documents,” said joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA.

“He acted dishonestly and personally benefitted to the tune of more than £5m for his part in this scheme. There is no place for such conduct in UK markets.

“This is a clear example of the action we take against individuals who abuse their position for personal gain and damage the integrity of the UK’s financial system.”

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