Due to financial crime risk lapses, Barclays was fined millions.

 

Barclays Bank has been fined £42m by the UK's financial watchdog for failures in its money laundering risk management.

 The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said Barclays had not properly vetted two of its clients, Stunt & Co and WealthTek.

 By providing services to Stunt & Co., the FCA said that Barclays "facilitated the movement of funds linked to financial crime" and that its failure to check WealthTek "an increased risk" of client money misappropriation or money laundering. Barclays said it fully co-operated with both investigations and has "further strengthened its financial crime and other control capabilities".

 The bulk of the fine, £39.3m, was in relation to Stunt & Co.

 According to the FCA, Barclays failed to maintain "proper ongoing monitoring" of its Stunt & Co. account. The regulator stated, "Stunt & Co received £46.8 million from Fowler Oldfield, a multimillion-pound money laundering operation, in the space of just over a year." It added that Barclays only conducted a review of its exposure to Fowler Oldfield after it learned of the FCA's decision to prosecute NatWest over their relationship with Fowler Oldfield.

 The rest of the fine was for WealthTek.  The FCA said "one simple check" Barclays could have done on the firm was to look at the Financial Services Register.

 "Had it done so, it would have seen that WealthTek was not permitted by the FCA to hold client money," the FCA said.

 The FCA said that in December 2024 it had charged John Dance, one of WealthTek's principal partners, with multiple criminal offences, including money laundering and fraud.

 His trial is scheduled for September 2027 at Southwark Crown Court.

 The FCA's enforcement division's Therese Chambers stated that Barclays received a significant reduction in its fine for its "extensive cooperation" in the WealthTek investigation and voluntary payment to affected clients. However, no additional details were provided. "Remains deeply committed to the fight against financial crime and fraud," Barclays stated. "The FCA's investigation relating to Stunt & Co was centred around historical money laundering activity and made no findings that the bank had breached money laundering regulations," it said in a statement.

 "As acknowledged by the FCA, Barclays undertook an extensive review and self-reported its findings to the FCA", it added.

 Barclays has been fined twice by the FCA for failing to control financial crime. In 2022, it fined the bank £783,800 for oversight failings in its relationship with collapsed payments firm Premier FX, which the FCA said presented "particularly high risks of financial crime and fraud".

 In 2015, Barclays was fined £72m for failing to minimise the risks of financial crime in relation to some of its ultra-wealthy clients, some of whom had high political profiles.