Starling Bank has confirmed that it has accepted the findings set out in the Final Notice published by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
This resolves the investigation referred to in the Bank’s annual report in June 2024.
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The Final Notice details failings that occurred at Starling between December 2019 and November 2023 in relation to the onboarding of certain high-risk customers and sanctions screening processes.
The breaches of the VREQ were identified by Starling and communicated to the FCA. Starling has cooperated with the FCA in its investigation and accepts its finding that the Bank’s financial crime controls failed to keep pace with the growth of the business.
Starling has paid the fine of £29m as full and final settlement
The bank has completed both a detailed re-screening of transactions and an in-depth review of customer accounts in respect of the contraventions detailed in the Notice.
In response to the FCA’s investigation, Starling has introduced extensive additional safeguards to ensure the Bank complies with regulatory requirements.
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By GlobalDataStarling has increased capability, structure and resources across all lines of defence. Enhanced controls in respect of the Bank’s monitoring and oversight of its compliance with the VREQ and in respect of its financial sanctions screening systems and controls are now in place.
Therese Chambers, Joint Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight, commented: “Starling’s financial sanction screening controls were shockingly lax. It left the financial system wide open to criminals and those subject to sanctions. It compounded this by failing to properly comply with FCA requirements it had agreed to, which were put in place to lower the risk of Starling facilitating financial crime.”
David Sproul, Chairman of Starling Bank, said: “I would like to apologise for the failings outlined by the FCA and to provide reassurance that we have invested heavily to put things right, including strengthening our board governance and capabilities. We want to assure our customers and employees that these are historic issues. We have learned the lessons of this investigation and are confident that these changes and the strength of our franchise put us in a strong position to continue executing our strategy of safe, sustainable growth, supported by a robust risk management and control framework.”
