Former government minister’s firm Sensyne slapped with £400,000 fine over covert bonuses

A healthcare technology company led by a former business minister has been slapped with a £400,000 fine for failing to disclose bonuses paid to executives.

Sensyne Health, headed by Lord Drayson, announced today it had been reprimanded by the London Stock Exchange (LSE) for paying secret bonuses to a c-suite executive and the peer.

A probe led by the LSE found Sensyne had misled its adviser, Peel Hunt, over a bonus of £850,000 paid to Drayson in 2018 and a £200,000 payout to its chief financial officer at the time, Lorimer Headley.

The payouts were distributed to Drayson and Headley in December 2018 four months after Sensyne listed on London’s junior AIM market.

The bonuses were not disclosed in documents provided to investors ahead of its listing.

The LSE was intending to fine the healthcare firm over £500,000 but reduced the size of the penalty due to Sensyne paying it early.

The LSE’s probe found limited information was provided to Peel Hunt which indicated “the award of the bonuses was a proposal that was not yet finalised, whereas, in fact, the terms of the bonuses were agreed and about to be paid”.

Peel Hunt advised against awarding the bonuses to Drayson and Headley due concerns over the proposals facing opposition from shareholders over the scale of the remuneration.

The LSE found that Sensyne broke AIM rules 13 and 31 as a result of its lack of cooperation with Peel Hunt.

“Sensyne Health has fully cooperated with the London Stock Exchange during the period of its investigation over the past two years, and both acknowledges and reiterates its apology for its failure to properly understand and meet its AIM disclosure obligation,” the firm said in a statement today.