FCA bans former law firm owner for misusing £28m of client money
The financial watchdog has banned the former owner of London-based law firm Kingly Solicitors from working in financial services after finding he allowed £28m of client money to be misused.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said on Tuesday it has barred Nurul Miah, also known as Neil Mia and Neil Miah, the former owner of Kingly Solicitors, from working in financial services after he “dishonestly caused or allowed more than £28m of client money to be taken from client accounts without permission between April 2019 and July 2020.”
Miah is prohibited from working in any regulated financial role for any firms under the Financial Services and Markets Act.
The FCA acted after the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) imposed its largest ever fine on Miah in May 2025 of almost £4m after shutting Kingly Solicitors down in 2020, following serious allegations of the misuse of client funds. It reported its findings to the relevant law enforcement authorities.
The SRA found that over £10m of client money was missing and had been used by Miah for “inappropriate purposes” such as loan repayments and to buy assets which were not linked to the business.
“Mr Miah dishonestly used client money for his own benefit. He has no place in financial services,” Therese Chambers, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA said.
“We have banned him to protect consumers and help maintain confidence in the financial system,” Chambers added.
Neil Swift, partner at Peters & Peters said the FCA’s action is “unsurprising”.
“The SRA’s findings of dishonesty and lack of integrity can be readily transposed to the FCA’s regulatory framework, allowing the FCA to prohibit Mr Miah from financial services based solely on those findings,” Swift said.
FCA also withdraws Miah’s role at consulting firm
Miah was also approved by the FCA in 2016 to work in senior management roles at an unconnected firm, Oracle Consultants Ltd, and the FCA said it has now withdrawn its approval for him to work due to his misuse of client funds at Kingly.
Morning Wire could not immediately reach Miah for comment.