FCA fines and enforcement actions in 2019

In June 2019 the FCA fined Bank of Scotland £45.5 million for failing to be open with the regulator about suspected fraud at HBOS's Reading-based Impaired Assets office, where a team led by Lynden Scourfield had been pushing struggling small businesses towards outside consultants who stripped their assets for personal gain. The bank first identified suspicious behaviour in early 2007 — including that Scourfield had been approving lending beyond his authority for three years — but did not fully disclose its suspicions to the then regulator, the Financial Services Authority, until July 2009, and the FCA found there was insufficient challenge or scrutiny "from top to bottom" of the organisation. The FCA said the delay hampered investigations by both the regulator and Thames Valley Police. The bank agreed to settle and received a 30% discount, cutting the fine by almost £20 million; the FCA also banned four individuals involved in the fraud.