Financial Regulatory Agency Imposes £42 Million Penalty on Barclays Bank
Barclays Fined £42 Million for Money Laundering Risk Management Failures
Barclays Bank UK PLC and Barclays Bank PLC have been fined a combined total of £42 million by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for separate instances of failings in their financial crime risk management.
The FCA's investigation focused on two cases: the opening of a client money account for WealthTek by Barclays Bank UK PLC and the provision of banking services to Stunt & Co by Barclays Bank PLC.
WealthTek Case
In January 2021, Barclays opened a client money account for WealthTek without properly verifying the company's authorization status on the Financial Services Register. This oversight allowed approximately £34 million in client deposits, creating significant money laundering and misappropriation risks.
Despite later agreeing to make a voluntary payment of £6.3 million to clients of WealthTek who suffered unrecoverable losses, Barclays' failure to perform basic checks exposed them to regulatory sanction for insufficient anti-money laundering (AML) due diligence.
WealthTek was not permitted by the FCA to hold client money, and its principal is now facing criminal charges including money laundering and fraud.
Stunt & Co Case
Over nearly five years, Barclays failed to properly review and act on financial crime risks related to its client Stunt & Co, a gold trading business. Despite numerous red flags and clear links to a criminal operation, Barclays continued providing banking services without escalating their due diligence or mitigating the money laundering risk.
This case highlights systemic weaknesses in Barclays’ ongoing monitoring and Know Your Business (KYB) processes.
Regulatory Action
The FCA's enforcement findings centre on Barclays' failure to adequately manage money laundering risks associated with providing banking services to WealthTek and Stunt & Co.
Barclays Bank UK PLC was fined £3.09 million, and Barclays Bank PLC was fined £39.3 million. The fines were announced in July 2025.
The FCA's actions underscore their focus on both initial client onboarding due diligence and the continuous monitoring obligations of regulated banks. The FCA is supervising firms to improve standards and ensure they have the right systems and controls to manage financial crime risks.
Financial crime has been identified as a priority for retail banks in the FCA's 2024 supervisory strategy. The FCA has also charged WealthTek's principal partner with multiple criminal offences, including money laundering and fraud, in December 2024.
It is important to note that the FCA has not fined Barclays Bank UK PLC, Barclays Bank PLC, or Clydesdale Financial Services Limited in connection with any money laundering or fraud charges related to WealthTek. Similarly, the FCA has not fined Barclays Bank PLC for failings related to Stunt & Co in the paragraph provided.
The FCA has also not charged any principal partner of WealthTek with criminal offenses in the paragraph provided. Additionally, the paragraph does not provide information about any fines or charges related to Barclays' treatment of consumer credit customers who fell into arrears or experienced financial difficulties.
The FCA has also not fined Barclays for oversight failings in its relationship with Premier FX in the paragraph provided.
- The FCA's actions against Barclays emphasize the importance of maintaining proper regulation in the banking-and-insurance industry, particularly in managing money laundering risks.
- The WealthTek case reveals the significance of general-news, such as the failure to verify a company's authorization status, in potential money laundering and misappropriation risks.
- In the Stunt & Co case, Barclays' continuous failure to address financial crime risks resulted in systemic weaknesses in their Know Your Business (KYB) processes, underscoring the need for rigorous industry standards.
- The Finance and crime-and-justice sectors are interconnected, as demonstrated by the FCA's ongoing supervision of firms to ensure they have the right systems and controls to manage financial crime risks.
