FSA fines Barclays over data
BARCLAYS has been fined £2.45m by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for failing to provide the regulator with accurate reports of its transactions and for weaknesses in its systems and controls.
The City watchdog said it had stumbled across “discrepancies” in Barclays’ data while probing an incident of suspected market abuse by a third party.
A subsequent review of Barclays’ transaction reporting methods revealed that the bank did not have appropriate systems in place to meet transaction reporting requirements and had submitted error-strewn data to the regulator.
The FSA requires financial institutions to submit data on reportable transactions by close of business the day after execution of a trade, to help it detect insider trading and market manipulation.
Alexander Justham, FSA director of markets, said: “Complete and accurate transaction reports are an essential component of the FSA’s market monitoring work.
“Barclays’ reporting failures could have a damaging impact on our ability to detect and investigate suspected market abuse.
“The penalty imposed on Barclays is significantly higher than previous penalties imposed for transaction reporting errors.
“This reflects the serious nature of Barclays’ breaches and is a warning to other firms that the FSA will not tolerate inadequate systems and controls.”
But the regulator said that Barclays’ fine had been reduced by 30 per cent from £3.5m because the bank had co-operated fully with the FSA’s investigation and was implementing new controls.