The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has been issuing fines since 2013, with some years busier than others. Below is a breakdown of the top 20 penalties to date.
The FCA regulates the conduct of approximately 50,000 UK financial services firms and sets specific standards for around 17,000. Since its establishment, the regulator hasn’t had a year where total fines were anything less than £1,000,000. In 2014, a record £1.47 billion was issued. These figures indicate how vital comprehensive employee FCA training is.
Key takeaways
- To avoid FCA fines, firms should have robust governance arrangements, train staff effectively, ensure third-party compliance, keep records, and maintain a compliance register.
- FCA fines range from Barclays (£284 million in 2015) for breaching Principle 3 to the Royal Bank of Scotland (£87.5 million in 2013) for LIBOR-related misconduct.
Simple steps to avoid FCA fines
The FCA's 'Principles for Business' (PRIN) outline the fundamental obligations firms must adhere to under the regulatory regime.
According to Principle 3, a firm "must take reasonable care to organise and control its affairs responsibly and effectively, with adequate risk management systems". This statement refers to:
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Robust governance arrangements - rules, practices and processes.
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Skills, knowledge and expertise of staff - in other words, train people!
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Outsourcing responsibilities - know your suppliers and make sure they’re compliant.
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Record-keeping - keep accurate, up-to-date logs.
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Conflicts of interest - maintain a compliance register to avoid issues.
Top 20 FCA fines so far
- Barclays Bank plc - £284 million fine (2015)
- National Westminster Bank Plc - £264.7 million fine (2021)
- UBS AG - £233.8 million fine (2014)
- Deutsche Bank - £226.8 million fine (2015)
- Citibank NA - £225.6 million fine (2014)
- JPMorgan Chase Bank - £222.1 million fine (2014)
- The Royal Bank of Scotland - £217 million fine (2014)
- HSBC Bank plc - £216.4 million fine (2014)
- Deutsche Bank AG - £163 million fine (2017)
- Credit Suisse - £147.2 million fine (2021)
- JPMorgan Chase Bank NA - £137.6 million fine (2013)
- The Bank of New York Mellon London Branch & Intl Ltd. - £126 million fine (2015)
- Lloyds Banking Group - £117.4 million fine (2015)
- Santander UK plc - £107.8 million (2022)
- Lloyds Banking Group - £105 million fine (2014)
- Rabobank - £105 million fine (2013)
- Standard Chartered Bank - £102 million fine (2019)
- Goldman Sachs International - £97 million fine (2020)
- Lloyds Bank General Insurance - £90.7 million (2021)
- The Royal Bank of Scotland plc - £87.5 million fine (2013)
The 20 biggest FCA fines reveal some key takeaways. Firstly, barring National Westminster Bank Plc, the most hefty fines were dished out in 2014 and 2015. This highlights the severe operational misconduct the FCA dealt with in its early stages.
Secondly, there's little evidence firms learnt a lesson from the penalties: a few repeat offenders are on the list.
We track the largest FCA fines each year. If you're interested in the latest penalties, read the highest FCA fines of 2026.
The 20 biggest FCA fines in detail
1. Barclays Bank plc - £284m fine (2015)
Breaching Principle 3
The FCA imposed a £284 million fine on Barclays for failing to control business practices concerning its foreign exchange (FX) business in London. This penalty is currently the largest the FCA or its predecessor, the Financial Services Authority (FSA), has ever issued.
Barclays' controls over its FX business were ineffective, because its front office failed to identify obvious risks linked to confidentiality, conflicts of interest and trader conduct. The bank engaged in collusive behaviour, and the FCA also found evidence of inappropriate sharing of confidential information.
Barclays settled the penalty at stage two of the investigation, allowing them to qualify for a 20% discount – without which the fine would have been £355.5 million.
2. National Westminster Bank plc - £264.7m fine (2021)
Money Laundering Regulations 2007 - anti-money laundering (AML) failings
This is the first case where the FCA pursued criminal charges for money laundering failings. They relate to NatWest not properly monitoring the activity of Fowler Oldfield between 2012 and 2016.
The Bradford-based jewellery business deposited £264 million in cash with NatWest.
Red flags reported included large amounts of Scottish banknotes deposited throughout England, notes carrying a prominent musty smell, and individuals acting suspiciously when depositing cash in NatWest branches.
Despite bank employees reporting suspicions to those responsible for investigating money laundering, NatWest took no appropriate action.
The bank's guilty plea reduced the fine by a third.
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3. UBS AG - £233.8m fine (2014)
UBS AG was one of five banks to receive a share of the £1.1 billion penalty for failing to control FX business practices. They received the highest proportion.
UBS AG failed to adequately identify, manage and assess the risks linked to its G10 spot FX trading business, associated with confidentiality, conflicts of interest and trading conduct.
This behaviour saw UBS, along with four other banks, sharing information about client activities and attempting to manipulate G10 spot FX currency rates. These actions disadvantaged those customers and the market.
4. Deutsche Bank AG - £226.8m fine (2015)
Breaching Principles 5, 3 and 11
The FCA fined Deutsche Bank AG £226.8 million for Investment Book of Record (IBOR) misconduct. This is the largest penalty imposed for London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) and Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor) misconduct. It was so large because the bank misled the regulator.
Deutsche trading desks manipulated their IBOR submissions across all major currencies. The bank failed to identify the misconduct due to inadequate systems and controls.
Deutsche settled early in the investigation.
5. Citibank NA - £225.6m fine (2014)
Failure to control business practices in G10 spot FX trading operations
Citibank was one of the five banks to receive part of the £1.1 billion penalty for failing to control business practices in their G10 spot FX trading operations. See above (UBS) for more details.
Citi agreed to settle early, qualifying them for a 30% discount.
6. JPMorgan Chase Bank - £222.1m fine (2014)
Failure to control business practices in G10 spot FX trading operations
JPMorgan Chase Bank was another of the five banks to receive a share of the £1.1 billion fine. See above (UBS) for more details.
7. The Royal Bank of Scotland - £217m fine (2014)
Failure to control business practices in G10 spot FX trading operations
The Royal Bank of Scotland was one more of the five banks that received part of the £1.1 billion fine. See above (UBS) for more details.
8. HSBC Bank plc - £216.4m fine (2014)
Failure to control business practices in G10 spot FX trading operations
HSBC Bank plc was the final bank to receive part of the £1.1 billion penalty. See above (UBS) for more details.
9. Deutsche Bank AG - £163m fine (2017)
PRIN 3 breaches - Financial crime
The FCA fined Deutsche Bank AG £163 million for failing to maintain an adequate AML framework from the beginning of 2012 to the end of 2015.
Because the bank didn’t properly oversee new customer relationships and book global business in the UK, it exposed the United Kingdom’s financial systems to crime risk.
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10. Credit Suisse (fined £147.2m)
Principles 2 and 3 breaches - Financial crime
The FCA fined Credit Suisse over £147 million for financial crime due to diligence failings related to loans worth over $1.3 billion, which the bank arranged for the Republic of Mozambique. A bond exchange was also “tainted by corruption”. Credit Suisse also agreed to forgive $200 million of debt owed by the Republic.
The risk of corrupt government officials in Mozambique was high, and the projects weren’t subject to public scrutiny or formal procurement processes. Credit Suisse was aware of this. Moreover, the contractor used by the Republic was described as a "master of kickbacks".
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11. JPMorgan Chase Bank NA - £137.6m fine (2013)
Breaching Principles 2, 3, 5 and 11
The FCA fined JPMorgan Chase Bank NA £137.6 million for serious failings connected to its Chief Investment Office (CIO). The breaches related to the CIO's $6.2 billion trading loss in 2012. These arose from what became known as the "London Whale" trades. Essentially, they were caused by a high-risk strategy, weak trading management and an inadequate response to important information.
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12. The Bank of NY Mellon London Branch - £126m fine (2015)
Breaching Principle 10 and some rules in Chapter 6 of the Client Assets Sourcebook
The FCA fined the Bank of New York Mellon London branch (BNYMLB) and Bank of New York Mellon International Limited (BNYMIL) £126 million for failing to comply with custody rules. – in place to protect safe custody assets if a firm is deemed insolvent.
The safe custody assets held by BNYMLB and BNYMIL totalled £1.3 trillion and £236 billion, respectively. The penalty reflected their value and the severity of the failings.
13. Lloyds Banking Group - £117.4m fine (2015)
Breaching Principle 6 of Principles for Business
Lloyds Banking Group was fined £117.4 million for failing to handle payment protection insurance (PPI) complaints fairly. This is currently the largest retail fine issued by the FCA. From March 2012 to May 2013, Lloyds rejected 37% of 2.3 million customer PPI policy complaints.
The FCA also found that Lloyds didn't notify complaints handlers of known failings in its PPI sales processes. Many customer complaints were rejected because of this misconduct.
14. Santander UK plc - £107.8m (2022)
Breaches of PRIN 3
The FCA fined Santander UK £107.7 million after discovering serious, persistent gaps in its AML controls affecting business banking clients. These failures had been ongoing for almost five years.
They led to over £298 million in suspicious funds passing through the bank before it closed the accounts. Santander didn’t dispute the FCA's findings and agreed to settle, so they qualified for a 30% discount (otherwise, the fine would have been £153.9 million).
15. Lloyds Banking Group - £105m fine (2014)
Serious LIBOR and other benchmark failings
Another year, another big penalty for Lloyds Banking Group. They were fined £105 million for serious misconduct related to the Special Liquidity Scheme (SLS), the repo rate benchmark and LIBOR.
In total, £70 million of the fine related to the attempted manipulation of the fees payable to the Bank of England for participation in the SLS.
The firms were a significant beneficiary of financial assistance from the Bank of England through the SLS. Colluding to benefit the firms at the expense, ultimately, of the UK taxpayer was unacceptable. This falls well short of the standards the FCA and the market is entitled to expect from regulated firms.
16. Rabobank - £105m fine (2013)
LIBOR-related misconduct
Rabobank was fined £105 million for serious LIBOR misconduct. They had poor internal controls that led to collusion between LIBOR submitters and traders. This opened the door to systematic attempts at benchmark manipulation.
Furthermore, in March 2011, Rabobank assured the FCA suitable rectifications were in place, but didn’t fully address the failings until August 2012.
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17. Standard Chartered Bank - £102m fine (2019)
Breaches of the Money Laundering Regulations 2007
Standard Chartered Bank received a £102 million penalty for breaching money laundering regulations.
The FCA found serious and sustained shortcomings in their AML controls relating to customer due diligence and ongoing monitoring. They failed to establish and maintain risk-sensitive policies and procedures and ensure United Arab Emirates (UAE) branches applied UK-equivalent AML and counter-terrorist financing controls.
18. Goldman Sachs International - £97m fine (2020)
PRIN 2 and PRIN 3 breaches – Risk management failures
Goldman Sachs International (GSI) was slapped with a £97 million fine by the FCA and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). The amount was part of a $2.9 billion globally coordinated settlement reached between GSI and various other authorities, including the US Department of Justice and the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
This relates to risk management failures connected to 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and GSI's role in three fundraising transactions for the Malaysian state-owned development company.
| In a statement, the FCA and PRA said GSI had "failed to assess and manage risk to the standard that was required given the high-risk profile of the 1MDB transactions, and failed to assess risk factors on a sufficiently holistic basis". GSI had also "failed to address bribery allegations in 2013 and failed to manage allegations of misconduct in connection with 1MDB in 2015" |
19. Lloyds Bank General Insurance - £90.7m (2021)
PRIN 3 and PRIN 7 breaches – Communications with customers
The FCA fined LBGI for failing to ensure language was clear, fair and not misleading in millions of home insurance renewals communications.
LBGI sent nine million renewals communications to customers from January 2009 to November 2017, with language saying they were receiving a “competitive price” that wasn’t substantiated. Around 87% who received the letters renewed.
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From 1st January 2022, the FCA required insurers to offer customers a renewal price no higher than they would pay as a new customer. They estimated this would save consumers £4.2 billion over 10 years.
20. The Royal Bank of Scotland plc - £87.5m fine (2013)
LIBOR-related misconduct
The FCA handed the Royal Bank of Scotland plc an £87.5 million fine in 2013 for breaching Principles for Business 3 and 5 from October 2006 to November 2010.
To benefit its derivatives trading books, the bank manipulated LIBOR in connection with its submission rates that formed part of the calculation of the Japanese Yen and Swiss Franc. Ultimately, the misconduct undermined LIBOR integrity.
FCA fines: FAQs
What can the FCA fine a firm for?
The FCA can issue fines for misconduct, regulatory breaches, inadequate systems and controls, market abuse, financial crime failures and treating customers unfairly.
How much can an FCA fine be?
There’s no single maximum fine. The penalty depends on factors including the seriousness of the misconduct, its impact and the firm's conduct.
Can the FCA fine individuals?
Yes. The FCA can fine individuals as well as firms for regulatory breaches and misconduct.
Want to learn more about FCA Compliance?
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Written by: Emmeline de Chazal
Emmeline is an experienced digital editor and content marketing manager. She has a demonstrated history of working in both the education management and software industries. Emmeline has a degree in business science, and her skillset includes Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) and digital marketing analytics. She is passionate about education and utilising her skills to encourage greater access to e-learning.
