FCA fines for unfair treatment of customers

In December 2020 the FCA fined Barclays Bank UK, Barclays Bank and Clydesdale Financial Services a combined £26,056,400 for the poor treatment of consumer credit customers who fell behind on repayments or got into financial difficulty between April 2014 and December 2018. Barclays failed to have proper conversations with struggling customers to understand why they were in arrears, did not properly assess their circumstances, and as a result offered repayment plans that were unaffordable or unsustainable — breaching the FCA's rules requiring firms to treat customers fairly and to organise their affairs responsibly. Barclays had already identified around 1.5 million affected customer accounts and paid them more than £273 million in redress. It did not dispute the findings and settled for a 30% discount, without which the fine would have been £37,223,500.

On 11 June 2020 the FCA fined Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland and The Mortgage Business — all part of Lloyds Banking Group — £64,046,800 for their handling of mortgage customers who fell into arrears between April 2011 and December 2015. The banks' systems and procedures meant call handlers often did not gather enough information about a customer's finances to judge what they could actually afford, so repayment arrangements were set that were unrealistic and risked making customers' difficulties worse. Around 526,000 customers had already received about £300 million under a redress scheme the group set up in 2017. The banks did not dispute the findings and qualified for a 30% discount; the fine would otherwise have been £91,495,400, and at the time it was the largest FCA penalty on a high street lender since 2015.

On 5 June 2015, the Financial Conduct Authority fined Lloyds Bank PLC £117,430,600.

On 5 June 2015, the Financial Conduct Authority fined Bank of Scotland plc £117,430,600.

On 12 November 2014 the FCA fined The Royal Bank of Scotland £217 million as part of a record £1.1 billion settlement with five banks (RBS, Citibank, HSBC, JPMorgan Chase and UBS) over failings in their spot foreign exchange trading. Between 1 January 2008 and 15 October 2013 ineffective controls allowed traders to share confidential information about client orders in chat rooms and coordinate their trading to manipulate benchmark exchange rates, putting the banks' interests ahead of their clients and the wider financial system. RBS settled early and received a 30% discount; without it the fine would have been £310 million. The bank also paid $290 million to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission the same day, suspended three employees and launched a review of the conduct of more than 50 current and former traders.

On 11 March 2014, the Financial Conduct Authority fined Stratos Markets Limited £4,000,000.

On 11 December 2013, the Financial Conduct Authority fined Bank of Scotland plc £28,038,800.

On 11 December 2013, the Financial Conduct Authority fined Lloyds Bank PLC £28,038,800.

On 19 February 2013, the Financial Services Authority (the FCA's predecessor) fined Lloyds Bank PLC £4,315,000.

On 19 February 2013, the Financial Services Authority (the FCA's predecessor) fined Bank of Scotland plc £4,315,000.

On 19 October 2012, the Financial Services Authority (the FCA's predecessor) fined Bank of Scotland plc £4,200,000.

On 27 June 2012 the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the FCA's predecessor, fined Barclays Bank £59.5 million — its largest ever fine — for misconduct in the way it submitted rates for LIBOR and EURIBOR, the benchmark interest rates that underpin trillions of pounds of loans and financial contracts. Between 2005 and 2009 Barclays' submissions took account of requests from its own derivatives traders who stood to profit, it tried to influence other banks' EURIBOR submissions, and during the financial crisis it lowered its LIBOR submissions because senior managers were worried about negative media comment on the bank's health. The FSA found Barclays lacked adequate controls over the process and failed to act with due skill and care when concerns were raised internally. Barclays settled early for a 30% discount (the fine would otherwise have been £85 million) and paid a further $360 million to US authorities, bringing the total to about £290 million; within days chairman Marcus Agius and chief executive Bob Diamond had resigned.

On 25 May 2011, the Financial Services Authority (the FCA's predecessor) fined Bank of Scotland plc £3,500,000.

On 18 January 2011, the Financial Services Authority (the FCA's predecessor) fined Barclays Bank Plc £7,700,000.

On 11 January 2011, the Financial Services Authority (the FCA's predecessor) fined NatWest Markets Plc £2,800,000.

On 12 January 2004, the Financial Services Authority (the FCA's predecessor) fined Bank of Scotland plc £1,250,000.

On 9 December 2003, the Financial Services Authority (the FCA's predecessor) fined Santander Asset Management UK Limited £320,000.

On 24 September 2003, the Financial Services Authority (the FCA's predecessor) fined Lloyds Bank PLC £1,900,000.

On 5 February 2003, the Financial Services Authority (the FCA's predecessor) fined Bank of Scotland plc £750,000.

On 12 December 2002, the Financial Services Authority (the FCA's predecessor) fined NatWest Markets Plc £750,000.