Reported by: Mark Sweney

Santander UK has been fined more than £100m after an investigation by the British financial watchdog found “serious and persistent gaps” in its money laundering controls, resulting in hundreds of millions of pounds of suspicious transactions through customer accounts.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) imposed the £107.7m penalty after an investigation found that between December 2012 and October 2017 the bank failed to “properly oversee and manage” the controls that affected the oversight of more than 560,000 business customers.

The FCA said more than £298m passed through business accounts at the bank that had received “red flags” over suspicious activity that Santander had failed to act upon.

“Santander’s poor management of their anti-money laundering systems and their inadequate attempts to address the problems created a prolonged and severe risk of money laundering and financial crime,” said Mark Steward, the executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA.

Read full report: https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2022/dec/09/santander-uk-fined-108m-over-anti-money-laundering-failings