British banking giant Barclays Plc agreed to pay a total of $77 million in fines amid client account failures in the United States and in the United Kingdom. The bank was said to have been fined twice in a day.
Barclays will settle with Securities and Exchange Commission for $15 million for the claims that its wealth management division in the United States failed to maintain an appropriate internal compliance system and had made trades that charged commissions from its customers without their consent. The bank will also settle with Britain's market regulator for 38 million pounds after the bank was found to have failed to properly protect client's asses between the years 2007 to 2012. The Financial Conduct Authority said that there were several inconsistencies in the bank's reports such as insufficient data or account naming, which could have been detrimental to the client should the bank file for insolvency. Also, the bank was found to have made over 1,500 trades for client accounts without proper written disclosure and consent. In their trades, the bank generated revenues and charged certain commissions that were not a match on the disclosures.
The bank suffered these penalties but they are striving to improve their system flaws. Barclays is fully cooperating with the examination and is working on strengthening compliance and encouraging a controlled and supervised environment to prevent future breaches. The bank still wants to prove their commitment to its clients worldwide.
Last 2012, the bank was involved in the Libor scandal that cost them 290 million pounds in penalties.
Barclays Plc is a British multinational banking giant and a financial services company based in London. Barclays is a universal bank with operations in investment banking, retailing and commercial bank, wealth management, mortgage lending and credit cards. It operates in more than 50 countries.
The bank is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is also a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It is also currently listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
