The FCA has fined Barclays a total of £42 million for separate instances of failings in its financial crime risk management – one relating to WealthTek and one relating to Stunt & Co.
In the first case, the FCA says Barclays failed to check it had gathered sufficient information to understand the money laundering risk, before opening a client money account for WealthTek.
One simple check it could have done was to look at the Financial Services Register before opening the account. Had it done so, it would have seen that WealthTek was not permitted by the FCA to hold client money.
Without the right information about WealthTek and how the account would be used, the regulator says there was an increased risk of misappropriation of client money or money laundering. Clients went on to deposit £34 million into the account.
Barclays has agreed to make a voluntary payment of £6.3 million to WealthTek’s clients who have a shortfall in the money they have been able to reclaim.
In December 2024, the FCA separately charged WealthTek’s principal partner with multiple criminal offences, including money laundering and fraud.
In the second case, the FCA has fined Barclays £39.3 million for failing to adequately manage money laundering risks associated with providing banking services to Stunt & Co.
The FCA claims Barclays did not gather enough information at the start of the relationship or carry out proper ongoing monitoring. In the space of just over a year, Stunt & Co received £46.8 million from Fowler Oldfield, a multimillion-pound money laundering operation.
The investigation found that Barclays failed to properly consider the money laundering risks associated with the firm even after receiving information from law enforcement about suspected money laundering through Fowler Oldfield, and after learning that the police had raided both firms.
Barclays only conducted a review of its exposure to Fowler Oldfield through its customers, including Stunt & Co, after it learned of the FCA’s decision to prosecute NatWest over their relationship with Fowler Oldfield. By providing ongoing banking services to Stunt & Co, Barclays facilitated the movement of funds linked to financial crime.
The FCA noted that Barclays continues to engage and invest in a significant remediation programme to enhance its anti-money laundering control framework.
Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: “The consequences of poor financial crime controls are very real – they allow criminals to launder the proceeds of their crimes, and they allow fraudsters to defraud consumers. Banks need to take responsibility and act promptly, particularly when obvious risks are brought to their attention.
“In the first of these cases, Barclays secured a significant reduction in its fine through its extensive co-operation with our investigation and through making a voluntary payment to affected consumers at our request.”
Collette Smith, chief customer officer at SmartSearch, commented: "Barclays' £42 million fine is the latest in a string of high-profile penalties that underline a deeply concerning trend across the financial sector: anti-money laundering controls are still being treated as a compliance box-tick rather than a critical frontline defence against serious crime.
"What's striking in this case is that the warning signs were there - missing permissions, law enforcement alerts, and even police raids - yet basic due diligence and ongoing monitoring were either absent or ignored. This is alarmingly similar to what we've seen elsewhere, where the rules exist but aren't properly applied. "Our own research shows that eight in ten banks admit they don't always verify new customers, and just 6% conduct daily checks on existing ones. That's a systemic weakness - and a scandal like this was, unfortunately, inevitable.
"We urge all financial institutions to treat this as a watershed moment: review your systems, invest in robust digital compliance tools, and embed AML rigor into your culture from the top down."
