FSA imposes £2.54 mn fine on Barclays

London: Market regulator Financial Services Authority (FSA) today said it has imposed a fine of 2.45 million pounds on financial services major Barclays for failing to provide accurate trading related reports.

FSA has fined Barclays Bank Plc and Barclays Capital Securities for not filing accurate transaction reports with the regulator and having inadequate systems and controls in place, which do not meet regulatory requirements.

"A subsequent review of Barclays' transaction reporting arrangements revealed that it did not have adequate systems and controls in place to meet the transaction reporting requirements as well as a substantial number of errors in the data submitted to the FSA," the FSA statement said.

The regulator said that Barclays' breaches occurred despite repeated reminders to firms of their obligations to provide accurate data and the importance of compliance with the FSA rules on transaction reporting during 2007 and 2008.

"Complete and accurate transaction reports are essential component of FSA's market monitoring work. Barclays' reporting failures could have a damaging impact on our ability to detect and investigate suspected market abuse," FSA director of markets Alexander Justham said.

"Penalty imposed on Barclays is significantly higher than previous penalties imposed for transaction reporting errors.

This reflects serious nature of Barclays' breaches and is a warning to other firms that FSA will not tolerate inadequate systems and controls," Justham added.