Emma RadmoreThe PRA has fined The Bank of London Group Limited and its parent financial holding company Oplyse Holdings Limited £2m. It found that, between October 2021 and May 2024 the firms had:
- misled the PRA over their capital positions – including providing the FCA with fabricated documents;
- failed to maintain adequate financial resources;
- failed to act with integrity, including not acting prudently when they failed to manage or report a large exposure arising from a loan from bank to parent; and
- failed to be open and cooperative with the PRA.
This was the first time the PRA had either fined for lack of integrity or taken enforcement action against a parent holding company of a regulated firm. The PRA had proposed a fine of £12m, but reduced it to £2m when the firms showed that the original level of fine would cause serious financial hardship.