[ By Howard Haykin ] So, Securities and Exchange Commission - this is how it's done! The Financial Services Authority in London added yet a couple of notches in its belt.  The British authorities on Tuesday fleeced the Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company of Japan for £3.3 million, or $5.3 million, and sanctioned Yohichi Kumagai, a former chief executive of Mitsui Sumitomo's British unit, with a £119,303 fine (~$200K)  and barred him from working in the country's financial services industry. Oh, yes.  The insurance unit was charged with having poor corporate governance practices at the London-based subsidiary. The Financial Services Authority, Britain’s regulator, continues to astound the global financial community with its new "take no prisoners" attitude.  The fines are the latest in a number of steps by British regulators to clamp down on market abuse and other problems in the country’s financial sector. Earlier FSA Targets. This year, prominent money manager David Einhorn and his Greenlight Capital hedge fund were fined a combined £7.3 million (nearly $2 million) over the use of confidential information to trade in the stock of a British pub chain. Ravi Sinha, a former top executive at the private equity firm J.C. Flowers, was fined £2.87 million (~$4.6 million) in January for using a fraudulent invoicing scheme to pocket millions of dollars. FSA Findings and Allegations in Mitsui Case. In this latest case, the Financial Services Authority said it had fined Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company Europe, a London subsidiary of the Japanese financial firm, for failings in corporate governance that resulted in the company being poorly managed. Mr. Kumagai, who was appointed executive chairman of the London subsidiary in 2009, was blamed for not filling management positions at the insurance company with people who had the experience, knowledge and time to fulfill their roles effectively, according to a statement from the regulator.

"Senior management must take responsibility for the firms that they run.  Mr. Kumagai failed to respond adequately to the changing risks facing his business even after they had been pointed out by the F.S.A." -- Tracey McDermott, acting director of FSA enforcement and financial crime.

Both the Japanese insurance company and Mr. Kumagai agreed to settle the cases at an early stage, and had their fines lowered by 30%.  If both parties had not agreed to a settlement, their fines would have been £4,78 million and £170,433, respectively. For further details, go to:   [Dealbook, 5/8/12].