Barclays fined millions over financial crime risk lapses

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.

The FCA said Barclays "facilitated the movement of funds linked to financial crime" by providing services to Stunt & Co and said there was "an increased risk" of client money misappropriation or money laundering from its failure to check WealthTek.

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.

The FCA said Barclays failed to carry out "proper ongoing monitoring" of its account with Stunt & Co.

"In the space of just over a year, Stunt & Co received £46.8 million from Fowler Oldfield, a multimillion-pound money laundering operation," the regulator said,

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.

Therese Chambers, from the FCA's enforcement division, said Barclays got a significant reduction in its fine through its "extensive co-operation" in the investigation of WealthTek and making a voluntary payment to affected clients, although further details were not given.

Barclays said it "remains deeply committed to the fight against financial crime and fraud."

"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.

The FCA has fined Barclays for failings in financial crime controls twice before.

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.