The financial authority of the United Kingdom - the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), imposed a significant monetary penalty on Barclays due to serious shortcomings in financial risk management. The fine of 42 million pounds is the result of two parallel investigations related to two specific companies - Stunt & Co and WealthTech.
The main part of the penalty - 39.3 million pounds, is related to the activities of Stunt & Co. The regulator found that the bank did not perform the necessary monitoring of this account. Within less than 14 months, the company received nearly 46.8 million pounds from the suspicious firm Fowler Oldfield, known as a large-scale money laundering operation.
An interesting detail is that Barclays initiated a review of its exposure to Fowler Oldfield only after learning about the FCA's decision to pursue another bank - NatWest, due to its connection with the same company.
The remaining part of the fine - 2.7 million pounds, is related to shortcomings in the verification of WealthTech. The financial regulator emphasized that the bank could easily have determined that this firm was not entitled to hold client funds by simply checking the official register.
Additional context reveals that in December 2024, one of WealthTech's main partners - John Dunce, was charged with multiple criminal offenses, including money laundering and fraud. His case is scheduled for September 2027 in the Crown Court in Southwark.
The FCA representative - Therese Chambers, noted that Barclays receives a significant reduction in the fine due to its full cooperation during the investigation and voluntary compensation to affected clients.
The bank categorically stated that they remain deeply committed to fighting financial crimes. They emphasized that the investigation of Stunt & Co refers to historical cases of money laundering and does not contain findings of violating the relevant regulations.
This case is not isolated for the financial institution. Previously, Barclays had already been sanctioned twice by the FCA - in 2022 with 783,800 pounds for shortcomings in relations with a bankrupt payment company, and in 2015 with 72 million pounds for inadequate control of risks when working with high-risk clients.
The case highlights the serious challenges facing financial institutions in preventing financial crimes and the need for constant, in-depth monitoring of client accounts.