Two former directors of a hedge fund that collapsed in 2008 have been banned and fined a combined £2.1m for deceiving investors on the fund’s performance and securing continued investment, after a tribunal upheld a decision by the UK’s Financial Services Authority to charge the men.

The regulator said it handed a £2m fine to Michiel Weiger Visser, the former chief executive of hedge fund firm Mercurius Capital Management. It also handed a £100,000 fine to Oluwole Modupe Fagbulu, the firm's former chief financial officer.