Merrill Lynch International hit with record £13.2m fine as the FCA slams the “severity” of its misconduct April 22, 2015 Merrill Lynch International (MLI) has been fined £13.2m for failing to properly report a number of transactions between 2007 and 2014. This is the highest fine imposed by the FCA for this type of failing. The watchdog said the amount levelled at the firm “reflects the severity of MLI's misconduct, failure to adequately address [...]
Bloomberg down: The FCA is “monitoring the impact” of trading outage on City firms April 17, 2015 The Financial Conduct Authority is keeping a watchful eye on City firms to see if there is any fall-out from today's Bloomberg Professional outage. The trading terminal, which is used by hundreds of thousands of people around the world, went down on Friday morning (London time). The problem, which affected traders worldwide, effectively brought [...]
Clydesdale Bank just got slapped with a £20.7m fine – the biggest one of its kind in the FCA’s history April 14, 2015 Clydesdale Bank has been slapped with the largest PPI-related fine in the FCA's history – nearly £20.7m – for “serious failings” in the way it handled complaints. The bank implemented “inappropriate policies” and provided false information to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) between May 2011 and July 2013, the FCA said. Because of the [...]
MPs tell FCA to sharpen up after insurance fiasco March 26, 2015 The City watchdog has not learned its lessons from the bungled insurance announcement which rocked insurance firms’ shares last year, an influential group of MPs said in a hard-hitting report today. Sloppy communications between the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and a newspaper led to a report that the watchdog was planning a probe into millions [...]
FCA takes first public action against Rabobank trader Paul Robson for manipulating Libor submissions March 17, 2015 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has banned ex-Rabobank trader Paul Robson from the financial services industry for "lacking honesty and integrity". Last year, Robson pleaded guilty to being involved in the conspiracy to manipulate his company's Yen Libor submissions. The ruling marks the first time the FCA has taken public action against a trader for [...]
Lawyers demand further clarity on FCA’s check-up on bankers March 16, 2015 Investment banks will have to assess the fitness of their traders to work every year, under rules unveiled by the City watchdog yesterday. But lawyers fear the guidelines are not yet clear, since the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has not decided who counts as a “trader” at a bank. The certification regime will apply to [...]
Senior bankers could go to jail for seven years under new FCA rules March 16, 2015 Senior bankers could face up to seven years in prison under new rules revealed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) today. Following a series of scandals such as Libor and Forex, the financial watchdog has changed the legal requirement for punishment from “innocent until proven guilty” to “presumption of responsibility”. This means bankers will [...]
Bankers to face new fitness test under FCA rules March 16, 2015 Financial services firms will be forced to vet thousands of staff each year and make sure they are “fit and proper” to perform their roles under a new framework being finalised by City regulators. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) will today publish the final proposals for a new regime [...]
FCA bans Gracechurch’s Sam Kenny from financial services industry and hands out £450,000 fine March 13, 2015 The former chief executive of Gracechurch Investments Limited Sam Kenny has been banned from working in the financial services industry and fined £450,000. Gracechurch, a now dissolved stock broking firm, was guilty of a host infractions. The Financial Conduct Authority found Kenny had used pressure selling techniques and Gracechurch had routinely sold stocks through misrepresentation [...]
FCA says payday lenders are failing customers after 12 month review March 10, 2015 Many of Britain's payday lenders are failing to treat their customers fairly, according to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). After a twelve-month review of the sector's regulation that covered 60 per cent of the market, the FCA was left unsatisfied. The regulator said the payday loan industry was still playing host to "unacceptable practices". A [...]