Santander Gets Major Fine for Failing to Transfer Deceased Customers' Funds

By Adam Clark

Banco Santander SA's (SAN.MC) U.K. arm has been fined 32.8 million pounds ($41.5 million) for failures in processing the accounts and investments of deceased customers.

The Financial Conduct Authority said Santander didn't transfer more than GBP183 million in funds to beneficiaries when it should have done, directly affecting 40,428 clients. The bank also didn't disclose the issues to the FCA when it became aware of the problems.

"These failings took too long to be identified and then far too long to be fixed. To the firm's credit, once these problems were notified to the board and senior management, they were fixed properly and promptly. But recognition of the problem took too long," Mark Steward, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said.

Santander's probate-and-bereavement process breached regulatory principles between Jan. 1, 2013 and July 11 2016, the FCA said. Between November 2013 and May 2015, the lender failed to disclose information to the FCA.

The FCA said Santander didn't contest its findings and agreed to resolve the case, therefore qualifying for a 30% discount on its penalty, which would otherwise have been GBP46.9 million.

Write to Adam Clark at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 19, 2018 04:48 ET (09:48 GMT)

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