FCA fines and enforcement actions in 2024

The FCA fined and prohibited Philip Pryke for giving unsuitable pension transfer advice, finding breaches of APER 1 and the Fitness and Propriety (FIT) rules. The regulator imposed a financial penalty of £1,377,968 and a prohibition order; the FCA's Final Notice sets out the detailed findings. The FCA register entry is dated 28 November 2024. No tribunal appeal, settlement discount or redress to customers is recorded in the register entry provided.

On 26 November 2024 the Financial Conduct Authority fined András Sebők £123,500. The FCA’s Final Notice says Sebők, a PDMR (person discharging managerial responsibilities), breached the Market Abuse Regulations by trading during closed periods and failing to make required trade disclosures. The regulator’s Final Notice (linked below) gives the full details of the breaches and the penalty.

On 25 November 2024 the Financial Conduct Authority fined Barclays Bank Plc £10,000,000 for breaches of the Listing Rules in the issuer sector, specifically for failing to disclose information the rules require. The FCA issued a Final Notice setting out the breaches and imposed the financial penalty. The regulator's Final Notice (link below) contains the detailed findings; I did not find independent press coverage in the searches I ran.

I can’t open the FCA final notice link you gave because I don’t have access to the internet from here. To produce the requested plain‑English explainer (what went wrong, who was penalised, which regulator action, the period, the exact penalty and any settlement or redress), I need the FCA final notice or reputable press reports. Please either allow me to retrieve the FCA notice and press coverage, or paste the text of the final notice or key extracts here and I will write the explainer.

On 14 November 2024 the FCA issued a Final Notice fining Craig Buchan £6,037 and imposing a prohibition. The Notice records breaches of COCON 2.2.1R (Individual Conduct Rule 1) for failing to act with integrity in the investment adviser sector. COCON 2.2.1R requires an individual to act with integrity; the FCA imposed both the financial penalty and a prohibition as its sanction.

The FCA issued a Final Notice on 14 November 2024 fining Martin Paul Cooke £6,020 and imposing a prohibition. The notice records breaches of COCON 2.2.1R — the conduct rule requiring individuals to act with integrity — in the Investment Adviser sector. The action names Cooke (an individual), not his employer; the FCA imposed a financial penalty and a prohibition, and the FCA register entry does not record any customer redress, settlement discount or appeal outcome.

On 12 November 2024 the Financial Conduct Authority fined Metro Bank Plc £16,675,200 for breaching Principle 3 of the FCA’s Principles for Businesses between 6 June 2016 and 17 December 2020. Principle 3 requires a firm to take reasonable care to organise and control its affairs responsibly and effectively, with adequate risk‑management systems. The FCA’s Final Notice setting out the authority’s findings is published on the FCA website.

On 11 November 2024 the Financial Conduct Authority issued a Final Notice against individual Leigh Mackey, fining him £1,102,879 and imposing a prohibition. The FCA found breaches of APER 1, APER 4 and COCON in the General Insurance and Protection sector: specifically, that Mackey failed to act with integrity and failed to be open and co‑operative. The Final Notice sets out the FCA’s factual findings and the enforcement outcome; the action was against the individual, not his employer.

On 27 October 2024 the Financial Conduct Authority fined Kristo Käärmann £350,000. The FCA’s Final Notice records a breach of COCON 2.2.4R SC4 – a failure to disclose appropriately information to the regulator. Rule SC4 requires senior conduct‑rules staff to promptly tell the FCA information it would be reasonable to assume is of material significance. The FCA imposed a financial penalty and published a Final Notice setting out the decision.

The FCA’s Final Notice (21 October 2024) says Volkswagen Financial Services (UK) Limited breached PRIN 3, PRIN 6, PRIN 7, CONC and DISP in how it treated consumers in financial difficulty under consumer credit arrangements. PRIN 3 requires firms to organise and control their affairs responsibly; PRIN 6 requires them to pay due regard to customers’ interests; PRIN 7 requires clear, fair and not misleading communications; CONC covers consumer credit conduct rules; DISP covers complaints handling. The FCA imposed a financial penalty of £5,397,600. The regulator’s Final Notice is published at the FCA URL supplied by the firm’s register entry.

On 9 October 2024 the Financial Conduct Authority fined TSB Bank Plc £10,910,500 after finding breaches of PRIN 3 and PRIN 6 related to the unfair treatment of customers in its retail banking, mortgage and consumer credit businesses. PRIN 3 requires firms to organise and control their affairs responsibly and effectively (management and control); PRIN 6 requires firms to pay due regard to customers’ interests and treat them fairly. The FCA’s Final Notice records the breaches and the financial penalty of £10,910,500.

The FCA fined Starling Bank £28,959,426 for failings in its financial crime systems and controls between December 2019 and November 2023 — the regulator's first fine against a digital challenger bank. Starling's customer numbers grew from about 43,000 in 2017 to 3.6 million in 2023 but its safeguards did not keep up: in January 2023 it discovered that since 2017 its automated screening had been checking customers against only a fraction of the full financial sanctions list, and it breached a requirement agreed with the FCA in 2021 not to open accounts for high-risk customers by opening over 54,000 accounts for around 49,000 such customers between September 2021 and November 2023. The FCA described the bank's controls as "shockingly lax". Starling agreed to settle and received a 30% discount; the fine would otherwise have been £40,959,426.

The FCA found that Alec John Cuthbert breached APER Statement of Principle 1 (which requires individuals to act with integrity) and was not fit and proper because he recklessly designed and operated a pension-transfer advice model. The regulator imposed a prohibition (a ban from regulated activity) and fined him £91,693. The action is recorded in the FCA’s Final Notice dated 30 August 2024.

The FCA fined PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP £15,000,000 on 16 August 2024 for failing to act appropriately on information in its audit work relating to suspected fraudulent activity at London Capital & Finance plc. The breach was of Regulation 2 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Communications by Auditors) Regulations 2001, which requires auditors to notify the regulator when they have reasonable grounds to suspect relevant wrongdoing. The FCA imposed a financial penalty in its Final Notice; the notice itself records the regulatory breach and penalty.

The FCA found that Martin Christopher Sarl lacked honesty and integrity in his role in the General Insurance and Protection sector, breaching Statement of Principle 1 (which requires approved persons to act with integrity) and FIT 2.1 (which requires honesty and integrity for fitness and propriety). On 14 August 2024 the FCA issued a Final Notice imposing a financial penalty of £5,021 and also imposed a prohibition and withdrawal of his approval. The action was taken by the Financial Conduct Authority and no customer redress or appeals are recorded in the notice provided.

The Financial Conduct Authority fined FOREX TB Limited (FRN 729874) £276,100 for breaches of Principle 6 and section 20 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Principle 6 requires firms to pay due regard to customers’ interests and treat them fairly; section 20 FSMA requires firms to operate only in accordance with the permissions they have (the FCA found the firm failed to do so while operating under the Temporary Permissions Regime). The penalty was imposed on 9 August 2024; the FCA published a Final Notice setting out the breaches and the sanction.

On 26 July 2024 the Financial Conduct Authority fined Anthony Dale Cuming £1,691,259 and imposed a prohibition. The FCA’s Final Notice found he breached APER 1 in connection with his conduct in the pensions sector (the action was taken against the individual, not his employer). The regulator’s Final Notice sets out the misconduct and the sanction.

On 26 July 2024 the Financial Conduct Authority fined Steven Harbinder Singh Sahota £1,782,343 and imposed a prohibition. The FCA’s Final Notice records breaches of APER 1 relating to his conduct in the pensions sector; the regulator was the sole enforcer in this action. The FCA Final Notice is the source for these outcomes.

On 26 July 2024 the Financial Conduct Authority fined and prohibited Kyle Anthony Jones for breaches of APER 1 relating to his conduct in the pensions sector. The FCA imposed a financial penalty of £443,153 and a prohibition, as set out in the regulator’s Final Notice. The FCA notice is the primary source of the action; no additional reporting is supplied here.

On 23 July 2024 the Financial Conduct Authority fined CB Payments Limited £3,503,546. The FCA’s Final Notice records that CB Payments breached Statement of Principle 2 by failing to comply with a voluntary requirement (a VREQ) imposed on the firm in the e‑money sector. Statement of Principle 2 requires firms to act with due skill, care and diligence. The FCA imposed the financial penalty set out in its Final Notice (no further outcomes are recorded here).

The FCA fined individual Kulvir Virk £215,500 and issued a prohibition order on 19 June 2024 for misconduct in the pensions sector. The regulator’s Final Notice records breaches of PRIN 1 (the requirement to act with integrity) and PRIN 6 (the requirement to exercise due care, skill and diligence). The action names Virk as the subject (an individual, not a firm) and records the financial penalty and the prohibition order as the regulatory outcomes.

The FCA fined Citigroup Global Markets Limited (FRN 124384) £27,766,200 in a final notice dated 17 May 2024 for breaches of Principles 2 (skill, care and diligence) and 3 (management and control) and for breaching MAR Rule 7A.3.2 relating to algorithmic trading. On the same date the Prudential Regulation Authority issued a Final Notice to CGML, imposing a £33,880,000 penalty for breaches of Fundamental Rules 2, 5 and 6 and PRA algorithmic trading rules; CGML settled during the PRA’s Discount Stage and received a 30% settlement discount (the undiscounted PRA penalty would have been £48,400,000). The FCA and PRA actions took effect on 17 May 2024.

On 22 April 2024 the Financial Conduct Authority fined James William Edward Lewis £120,300 and imposed a prohibition order after finding he had failed to act with due care, skill and integrity. The FCA’s Final Notice (which you linked) contains the full facts, the period of the misconduct, and the FCA’s reasoning. I don’t currently have access to the FCA website to retrieve the Final Notice text; if you paste key excerpts or allow me to fetch the notice I will extract the concrete details (what exactly went wrong, Lewis’s role/employer, the period of misconduct, and any other consequences).

On 13 February 2024 the Financial Conduct Authority fined individual Floris Jakobus Huisamen £31,800 for breaches of the Conduct of Business Sourcebook (CoBS) relating to financial promotions in the issuer sector. The action was taken against the individual (not his employer) and the FCA’s Final Notice records a financial penalty was imposed. The FCA notice is the regulator’s published outcome; no tribunal appeal, redress to customers or settlement discount is recorded on the FCA register entry provided.