Santander UK plc (Santander UK) has today accepted the FCA鈥檚 civil regulatory findings in relation to anti-money laundering (AML) controls in its Business Banking division in the period 31 December 2012 to 18 October 2017.听
The bank has co-operated fully with the FCA investigation and has agreed a financial penalty of 拢107,793,300. 听This is primarily based on a proportion of the revenues of Santander UK鈥檚 Business Banking division over the relevant period and incorporates a 30% discount for early settlement. Business Banking customers formed 4% of Santander UK鈥檚 customer base in 2017.
The FCA鈥檚 investigation focused on the identification, assessment and management of higher risk customers, within the Business Banking division, including Money Services Businesses. 听It has now concluded, and no further action is anticipated by the FCA or any other authority in respect of this matter.
Chief Executive Officer, Mike Regnier, commented: 鈥淪antander takes its responsibilities regarding financial crime extremely seriously. We are very sorry for the historical Anti-Money Laundering (AML) related controls issues in our Business Banking division between 2012-17 highlighted in the FCA鈥檚 findings.
鈥淲hile we took action to address our AML issues once they were identified, we accept that our AML framework at the time should have been stronger. 听We have since made significant changes to address this by overhauling our financial crime technology, systems and processes. 听Today over 4,400 staff are focused on preventing financial crime and we continue to invest to meet our responsibilities and keep our customers and communities safe.鈥
The Santander Group, including Santander UK, is fully committed to the fight against financial crime and will continue to meet all applicable financial crime regulations and legislation internationally and ensure effectiveness in our control environment.听
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Media enquiries: mediarelations@santander.co.uk
Notes to Editors
1.听听 听Details of Santander UK鈥檚 response to the settlement can be viewed 听
2.听听 听Details of our approach to tackling financial crime can be found .听
Santander UK is a financial services provider in the UK that offers a wide range of personal and commercial financial products and services. At 30 June 2022, the bank had around 18,000 employees and serves around 14 million active customers, via a nationwide branch network, telephone, mobile and online banking. Santander UK is subject to the full supervision of the FCA and the PRA in the UK. Santander UK plc customers鈥 eligible deposits are protected by the FSCS in the UK.
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