The value of fines issued the FCA in 2017 reached £229.4m, more than ten times the £22.2m it issued in 2016, law firm Clyde & Co has found after it analysed the FCA’s enforcement database.
Of the total, £436,000 was levied against individuals, while the remaining £229m was levied against companies.
These numbers remained substantially below the £1.5bn issued by the FCA in 2014.
In 2017 there were eight fines issued against individuals, compared to four against companies. This was roughly level with 2016, when fines against individuals made up 64% of the total number of fines.
John Whittaker, partner at Clyde & Co, said: “A tenfold increase is significant but it’s worth remembering that this is the second lowest year of fines over the past five years.
“It’s certainly a far cry from the £1.5bn of 2014 but it will still be worrying senior executives. Especially because it appears that the regulator is continuing to place greater attention on individuals than in previous years.
“Recent regulatory changes, which are aimed at holding individuals to account for any behaviour that strays outside of the regulator’s rule book certainly supports this trend.”
According to Whittaker, the Senior Managers Regime (SMR) has placed the responsibility on managers for their own actions and those of their staff. SMR is due to come into force in the consumer credit space in 2018.
