Santander Gets Major Fine for Failing to Transfer Deceased Customers' Funds
December 19 2018 - 05:03AM
Dow Jones News
By Adam Clark
Banco Santander SA's (SAN.MC) U.K. arm has been fined 32.8
million pounds ($41.5 million) for failures in processing the
accounts and investments of deceased customers.
The Financial Conduct Authority said Santander didn't transfer
more than GBP183 million in funds to beneficiaries when it should
have done, directly affecting 40,428 clients. The bank also didn't
disclose the issues to the FCA when it became aware of the
problems.
"These failings took too long to be identified and then far too
long to be fixed. To the firm's credit, once these problems were
notified to the board and senior management, they were fixed
properly and promptly. But recognition of the problem took too
long," Mark Steward, executive director of enforcement and market
oversight at the FCA, said.
Santander's probate-and-bereavement process breached regulatory
principles between Jan. 1, 2013 and July 11 2016, the FCA said.
Between November 2013 and May 2015, the lender failed to disclose
information to the FCA.
The FCA said Santander didn't contest its findings and agreed to
resolve the case, therefore qualifying for a 30% discount on its
penalty, which would otherwise have been GBP46.9 million.
Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 19, 2018 04:48 ET (09:48 GMT)
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