The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) penalised British firms a total of £506.94m ($770m)* in 2013 according to new research from Kinetic Partners, the global professional services firm. The research also revealed that the penalties handed down by FCA to individuals totalled £5.42m ($8.23m) in 2013. While the amount fined to individuals only accounted for slightly more than one per cent, the number of fines that the FCA brought against individuals (20) accounted for 44 per cent of the total number of cases during the same period.

Tough stance

‘Our research shows that British firms continue to be fined and demonstrates the increasingly tough stance that regulators are taking against financial services firms. Regulators have certainly publicised their efforts to increase enforcement activity and deter negligent or harmful behaviour’, says Nick Matthews, Senior Member of Forensic and Corporate Recovery Practice at Kinetic Partners.