Santander UK has been hit with a £12.4m from the Financial Conduct Authority for providing unsuitable investment advice to customers, the FCA has confirmed following an earlier report in the Financial Times.
The fine follows a mystery shopping exercise in 2012, which exposed serious failings in how Santander advised clients in branch.
The results of the regulator’s investigation were reported in February 2013, when then-regulator the Financial Services Authority revealed that advisers gave unsuitable advice in 11 per cent of cases.
Although the mystery shopping exercise covered several UK banks and building societies, the FT reported at the time that Santander had been singled out for enforcement action.
The bank closed its UK investment advice division in March 2013, which had 800 employees. It recently launched a lighter version of its advice service with 100 advisers across all UK branches.
Steve Pateman, head of UK banking, said: “We regret that elements of Santander UK’s historic branch-based investment sales processes did not meet the required regulatory standards and apologise to any customers who have concerns.”
Gov’t to sell 20% of Lloyds stake
The government has revealed plans to sell more than £4bn worth of shares in Lloyds bank, the Financial Times reports.
The sale could take UK Financial Investments - the firm that manages the stake on behalf of the government - to below the 25 per cent level at which it wields a blocking minority in the bank.
The paper added that a larger offering of Lloyds shares to retail investors will likely be launched by the firm later this year.
US bank fines reach $100bn
Banks around the world have paid out $100bn in US legal settlements since the financial crisis, research by the Financial Times has shown.
According to the paper more than half of those penalties were paid in the past year.
The paper speculates that the amount taken in fines reflects efforts by the American government to counter perceptions that bankers have got off lightly for their role in the financial crisis.
Britain faces million-home housing gap
Britain is falling short of meeting its housing needs by 1m homes, the Daily Mail reports.
The paper says a 2004 report by Kate Barker commissioned by the Labour government at the time found that 210,000 homes needed to be built each year to prevent a housing crisis.
The economist also said at the time that the housing market could be improved and homes made more affordable if 260,000 were built annually.
However, a follow-up report suggests only 115,000 homes have been built a year since 2004, the paper says.
Deadly summer heat waves ‘to be the norm’
The Met Office has warned that heat waves such as that in 2003 which killed up to 20,000 people across Europe will become the norm by 2040, the Independent reports.
Based on current projections, if the amount of carbon dioxide being pumped into the atmosphere each year remains at current levels, summers similar to that of 2003 will even be considered cool compared to summers towards the end of the century.
Professor Stephen Belcher, head of the Met Office’s Hadley Centre, said: “Summer 2003 certainly had an influence in the UK. At the moment, we’re able to say that by the 2040s we can expect events like 2003 to be normal.
“Heavy rain is becoming heavier and that’s consistent with our picture of a warming world and warming atmosphere.”
