Barclays fined £42m over serious failures in financial crime controls
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Barclays a combined £42 million for serious failings in its financial crime risk management, citing two separate cases involving WealthTek and Stunt & Co.
Barclays Bank UK PLC and Barclays Bank PLC were sanctioned for inadequate controls that exposed the bank and its clients to heightened risks of money laundering and fraud.
The regulator said the bank failed to conduct proper due diligence or take timely action even when red flags were raised by law enforcement.
In the first case, Barclays Bank UK PLC failed to gather sufficient information about WealthTek before opening a client money account. A basic check of the Financial Services Register would have shown that WealthTek was not authorised by the FCA to hold client money.
Despite this oversight, clients deposited £34 million into the account.
Following FCA intervention, Barclays agreed to make a voluntary payment of £6.3 million to WealthTek clients facing shortfalls. In December 2024, WealthTek’s principal partner was charged with multiple offences, including fraud and money laundering.
In the second case, the FCA fined Barclays Bank PLC £39.3 million for failing to manage money laundering risks linked to its relationship with Stunt & Co, which received £46.8 million from Fowler Oldfield, a firm already under investigation for large-scale money laundering.
Barclays did not gather sufficient information at the outset of the relationship and did not carry out adequate ongoing monitoring.
Even after receiving warnings from law enforcement and learning about police raids, the bank failed to assess its exposure until the FCA prosecuted NatWest for a similar relationship with Fowler Oldfield.
“The consequences of poor financial crime controls are very real – they allow criminals to launder the proceeds of their crimes, and they allow fraudsters to defraud consumers,” said Therese Chambers, Joint Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA.
“Banks need to take responsibility and act promptly, particularly when obvious risks are brought to their attention.”
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The FCA noted that Barclays secured a significant reduction in its fine due to its cooperation during the investigation and the voluntary payment to affected consumers.
Barclays is continuing a large-scale remediation programme to strengthen its anti-money laundering (AML) control framework.
The FCA has flagged financial crime as a key focus in its 2024 supervisory strategy and said it would continue to monitor banks to ensure systems and controls are up to standard.
