Reported by Shekina Tuahene

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Starling Bank £29m for failing to stop customers involved in criminal activities from having an account. 

The failings related to its ‘financial sanctions screening’, which is the process of identifying whether individuals may be considered high-risk or be subject to economic sanctions and to avoid association with anyone involved in illegal activities including money laundering, corruption, terrorism financing or bribery.

The regulator said the bank also “repeatedly breached a requirement not to open accounts for high-risk customers”. 

The FCA said Starling Bank had grown “quickly”, and its measures to tackle financial crime did not keep pace as its customer base rose from around 47,000 in 2017 to 3.6 million in 2023. 

The regulator looked into financial crime controls at challenger banks in 2021 and found “serious concerns” with the anti-money laundering (AML) and sanctions framework at Starling Bank. 

The challenger bank agreed to a requirement that restricted the opening of new accounts for high-risk customers until this framework was improved. 

Read full report: https://www.yourmoney.com/saving-banking/starling-bank-fined-29m-for-financial-crime-failings/