FCA fines for client money and client asset breaches

On 16 July 2025 the FCA fined Barclays Bank UK PLC £3,093,600 for failures in its account‑opening procedures for a client money account used by WealthTek, concluding the bank had inadequate risk‑management systems. The FCA said Barclays breached Principle 3 (firms must organise and control their affairs responsibly and effectively) and SYSC 6.1.1R (requirement to have effective systems and controls). Barclays also agreed to make a voluntary payment of £6,281,757 to WealthTek clients and the FCA said the bank’s extensive co‑operation and that redress were taken into account in reducing the penalty.

The FCA fined Barclays Bank £783,800 in February 2022 for weak oversight of its business customer Premier FX, a small payments firm for which Barclays was the sole UK banker. Premier FX collapsed in 2018 after the death of its sole director, when it emerged it had been taking deposits it was not authorised to take and had not kept client money separate, leaving 167 customers — mostly British expats in Spain and Portugal — with losses of just over £10 million. The FCA found Barclays failed to act with due skill, care and diligence: it did not check that Premier FX's real activity matched what it expected, and it missed signs that the firm's internal controls were deficient. Barclays settled early for a 30% discount and voluntarily paid £10,076,943.75 so that every customer with an accepted claim got all their money back.

The FCA imposed a £37,745,000 penalty on Barclays Bank plc for failures in how it organised and controlled safe custody arrangements and for not arranging adequate protection for client safe custody assets. The breaches (of Principles 3 and 10 and multiple CASS rules) related to about £16.5bn of client safe custody assets held or arranged for between 1 November 2007 and 24 January 2012. Barclays qualified for a 30% early‑settlement discount, so the headline penalty was reduced from £53,921,619 to £37,745,000. The FCA said the failings left clients at risk of extra costs, lengthy delays or loss of assets had Barclays become insolvent during the Relevant Period.

The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland was fined £750,000 by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in a Final Notice dated 5 February 2003 for failures in its PEP and ISA Department. Between November 1999 and August 2001 the firm’s implementation of its LISA PEP and ISA computer system, and the transfer of PEP customers’ accounts into that system (together with management failings), meant it could not reconcile the cash it held for PEP and ISA customers or state accurately how much customer money it held.