The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is on track to reach a record high for regulatory fines issued in 2015, according to data from Wolters Kluwer.
The FCA issued fines amounting to £819 million for regulatory wrongdoing and poor risk controls in the first six months of this year, six times the amount collected in the same period in 2014.
By comparison, the regulator collected a total of £335 million in these types of fines in the whole of 2013.
Mary Stevens, manager of regulatory analysis at Wolters Kluwer Financial Services in London, said: “Attitudes towards the industry have clearly not been kind and some would argue the increase in penalties is in response to the demands of the consumers and, for that matter, the media, on the FCA to act.”
“The banking industry has borne the brunt of the attack and, as a result, has reaped the biggest financial penalties when compared with the asset management or insurance sectors.”
Stevens also commented on the upcoming change in regulations that mean senior management will be held personally responsible in the case of failure, saying: “It would therefore seem entirely logical for the FCA to adopt a combination of financial penalty and senior management responsibility.”
