The FCA has levied another fine on a bank for financial crime risk management failings. This fine was on Barclays Bank UK PLC and Barclays Bank PLC and related to 2 clients:
- in one case, failure to check that the bank had sufficient information to understand the money laundering risk before opening a client money account for WealthTek (which did not have permission to hold client money). Clients went on to deposit £34m in the account. The bank has agreed to make a voluntary payment to WealthTek’s clients who had a shortfall in the money they have ben able to reclaim following WealthTek’s failure and the FCA’s charging its principal partner with multiple criminal offences;
- in the other case, failing adequately to manage the risks of providing banking services to an entity called Stunt & Co, which received nearly £45m over around a year from Fowler Oldfield which was subsequently found to be a large money laundering operation. The bank carried out a review of its exposure to Fowler Oldfield only after the FCA decided to prosecute NatWest for its relationship with the company, and so had facilitated the movement of funds linked to financial crime by not acting on information about Fowler Oldfield earlier.
The fine, particularly in the first case, was significantly reduced because of the bank’s extensive cooperation and voluntary payment to WealthTek customers, and it continues to invest in a significant programme to enhance its AML controls.