Barclays plc has been ordered to pay more than $13.75 million in restitution after inadequately supervising mutual fund deals in the US over the last five years.
The US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined Barclays $3.75 million and told the bank to pay back over $10 million to affected customers. The regulatory authority said that between January 2010 to June 2015, Barclays’ held responsibility for failing to stop many customers from swapping one mutual fund for another when the benefits may be outweighed by the costs.
More than 6,100 fund switches took place during the five-year period, causing $8.63 million of harm to customers, most of whom were not warned of the impact it may have.
FINRA enforcement chief Brad Bennett said in a statement: “The proper supervision of mutual fund switching and breakpoint discounts is essential to the protection of retail mutual fund investors.”
In November, Barclays was fined £72m in the UK for failing to conduct the proper legal checks on its richest clients, because it did not want to ‘inconvenience them.’
30/12/2015
