The FSA said Coutts & Company – purchased by RBS in 2000 when it took over NatWest – had failed to take reasonable care to establish and maintain effective anti-money laundering systems and controls.
The failings related to high risk customers, including politically exposed persons, the FSA said, adding Coutts’ failings were “serious, systemic and… allowed to persist for almost three years”.
Coutts now holds the dubious honour of featuring in the list of the top ten largest fines ever levied by the regulator.
Here we count down the ten largest fines the FSA has ever issued:
10. £7,000,000 Alliance & Leicester
07/10/08 For serious failings in its telephone sales of payment protection insurance.
9. £7,000,000 Toronto Dominion Bank
17/12/09 For repeated systems and controls failings around the pricing of sophisticated financial products.
8. £7,700,000 Barclays Bank
18/01/11 For failures in relation to the sale of two funds.
7. £8,000,000 UBS
05/11/09 For systems and controls failures that enabled four employees to carry out unauthorised transactions involving customer money on at least 39 accounts.
6. £8,750,000 Coutts
26/03/12 For failing to take reasonable care to establish and maintain effective anti-money laundering systems and controls.
5. £10,500,00 HSBC
02/12/11 For inappropriate investment advice provided by NHFA limited to elderly customers.
4. £13,960,860 Citigroup
28/06/05 Breaching FSA Principles 2 and 3 by failing to conduct its business with due skill, care and diligence.
3. £17,000,000 Royal Dutch Shell
24/08/04 The oil major and its subsidiaries were fined for market abuse.
2. £17,500,000 Goldman Sachs
09/09/10 For weaknesses in controls resulting in failure to provide FSA with appropriate information.
1. £33,320,000 J.P.Morgan
03/06/10 For failing to protect client money by segregating it appropriately.
Source: FSA
