The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said Wednesday that it has fined Barclays a total of £42 million for significant failings in its financial crime risk management, linked to two separate cases involving WealthTek and Stunt & Co.
FCA Fines Barclays £42 Million for Financial Crime Risk Management Failures
Barclays Bank UK PLC was fined £3.1 million for opening a client money account for WealthTek without carrying out adequate checks.
The bank reportedly failed to verify whether WealthTek was authorised to hold client funds, a step that could have been completed by consulting the FCA’s register.
As a result, clients deposited £34 million into the account, exposing them to heightened risks. Barclays will also make a voluntary £6.3 million payment to affected WealthTek clients.
In a separate case, the FCA stated that Barclays Bank PLC was fined £39.3 million for failing to manage money laundering risks tied to Stunt & Co, which received nearly £47 million from Fowler Oldfield, a convicted money laundering operation.
The bank is said to have continued servicing Stunt & Co even after police raids and law enforcement warnings.
Therese Chambers, Joint Executive Director of Enforcement at the FCA, said: “The consequences of poor financial crime controls are very real – they allow criminals to launder the proceeds of their crimes, and they allow fraudsters to defraud consumers.”
The FCA said Barclays’ cooperation and voluntary payments significantly reduced its fines. Barclays has since begun a major remediation programme to strengthen its anti-money laundering framework.
