Choice, transparency and M&A: FCA outlines terms for investment banking probe May 22, 2015 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) says it will focus on wide-ranging subjects when it launches a study into the investment and corporate banking market. In a statement today, the FCA said its investigation, which will build on a wholesale sector competition review published in February, will look at "choice, transparency, bundling and cross-subsidisation in debt [...]
Forex-rigging scandal: Barclays given largest fine in FCA history May 20, 2015 Barclays has been fined £284.4m by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for failing to control business practices in its London foreign exchange operations. The bank's "inadequate and ineffective" control over its forex floor led to the biggest fine ever handed out by the FCA. Last year the bank opted out of a mass settlement in [...]
Three charged with insider dealing by FCA in Logica shares at time of CGI takeover April 29, 2015 Three men, including a former business analyst at IT management consultancy Logica, have been charged with insider dealing by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The UK's financial watchdog formally is charging former Logica employee Majeet Singh Mohal with passing on inside information in 2012 and two other men – Reshim Birk and Surinder Pal Singh Sappal [...]
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 [...]