Metro Bank fined £16.7m by the FCA for “financial crime failings”
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) says it has fined Metro Bank £16,675,200 for “financial crime failings”, claiming that between June 2016 and December 2020, “Metro failed to have the right systems and controls to adequately monitor over 60m transactions, with a value of over £51bn, for money laundering risks”.
FCA fines Metro Bank £16.7m
In a press release issued on 12 November, the regulator states that the bank “automated the monitoring of customer transactions for potential financial crime in June 2016”, however, according to the FCA, the system “did not work as intended”.
“An error in how data was fed into the system meant transactions taking place on the same day an account was opened, and any further transactions until the account record was updated, were not monitored,” the FCA says.
The FCA says that junior staff at Metro Bank “did raise concerns about some transaction data not being monitored in 2017 and 2018, but these did not result in the issue being identified and fixed”. It adds that the bank identified the issues with its transaction monitoring system in April 2019.
The regulator continues: “Even once a fix had been put in place in July 2019, Metro did not have a mechanism to consistently check that all relevant transactions were being fed into the monitoring system until December 2020, over 4 and a half years after the system was implemented.”
Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, comments: “Metro’s failings risked a gap being left in our defence against the criminal misuse of our financial system. Those failings went on for too long.”
The FCA adds that Metro would have been fined £23,821,700, “but it agreed to resolve these matters and so qualified for a 30% discount under the FCA’s processes”.
In a statement responding to the fine, posted to its website on 12 November, Metro confirms that it has “resolved transaction monitoring system failings and made transaction monitoring enhancements”.
“The FCA’s enquiries have concluded, resulting in the imposition of a financial penalty of approximately £16.7 million relating to historic deficiencies in the company’s transaction monitoring systems and controls,” Metro’s statement continues. “The company has engaged and co-operated fully with the FCA’s enquiries and accepts the findings.”
Daniel Frumkin, CEO of Metro, comments: “The conclusion of these enquiries draws a line under this legacy issue, allowing the bank to move forward and fully focus on the future, building on the solid foundations it has already laid.
“Our relationship-led banking model will allow Metro Bank to go from strength to strength as we forge ahead with our growth agenda and progress towards long term sustainable profitability.”
