01 · In plain English
What happened.
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.
Written by FRN Watch from the FCA's notice. The final notice below is the official record.
02 · Enforcement details
What the FCA register says.
The FCA has taken enforcement action against Lloyds Bank PLC, Bank of Scotland plc, and The Mortgage Business Plc (“the Banks”) because between 7 April 2011 and 21 December 2015 (the “Relevant Period”), the Banks breached Principles 3 and 6 of the Authority’s Principles for Businesses. As a consequence of this action, the Banks received a financial penalty of £64,046,800 pursuant to section 206 of the Act. The Banks agreed to resolve all issues of fact and liability and qualified for a 30% discount under the Authority’s executive settlement procedures. Were it not for this discount, the Authority would have imposed a financial penalty of £91,495,400 on the Banks. The FCA’s action took effect on 11 June 2020 and a copy of the Final Notice is displayed on the FCA’s web site here:
03 · Press coverage
How it was reported.
- FCA fines Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland and The Mortgage Business £64,046,800 for failures in mortgage arrears handlingFinancial Conduct Authority · 11 Jun 2020
- Lloyds Fined $81 Million Over Clients With Mortgage ArrearsBloomberg · 11 Jun 2020
- FCA fines Lloyds Banking Group £64m for mistreating mortgage customersCity AM · 11 Jun 2020
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04 · Firm details
Firm on the FCA register.
- Firm name
- Lloyds Bank PLC
- Firm reference number
- 119278
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