Finance
UK's Nationwide fined $59 million over financial crime control failings
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on December 12, 2025
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on December 12, 2025
By Lawrence White and Yadarisa Shabong
LONDON, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Britain's financial watchdog has fined Nationwide Building Society 44 million pounds ($58.9 million) for failing to properly monitor financial crime risks among its customers between October 2016 and July 2021.
Nationwide, Britain's second-biggest mortgage lender, had ineffective systems for monitoring personal account customers and was aware some of them were using such accounts for business purposes, breaching its own terms, the FCA said on Friday.
The customer-owned lender did not offer business accounts during the period in question and therefore did not have the right controls to manage associated money laundering risks, the FCA added.
Nationwide had itself identified the issues and brought them to the attention of the regulator, a spokesperson for the lender said.
“We do not believe that these controls issues caused financial loss to any of our customers and remain committed to preventing economic crime and protecting our customers and the wider UK economy from fraud,” the spokesperson said.
In one case that the FCA described as serious, Nationwide missed opportunities to identify a customer using a personal account to receive 27 million pounds in fraudulent payments from Britain's COVID-19-related furlough scheme.
"Nationwide failed to get a proper grip of the financial crime risks lurking within its customer base. It took too long to address its flawed systems and weak controls, meaning red flags were missed with serious consequences," said Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA.
($1 = 0.7473 pounds)
(Reporting by Lawrence White in London and Yadarisa Shabong in BengaluruEditing by David Goodman)
Financial crime refers to illegal activities that involve fraud, money laundering, or other financial misconduct that can harm individuals or institutions.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is a regulatory body in the UK that oversees financial markets and firms to ensure they operate fairly and transparently.
Compliance controls are procedures and policies implemented by organizations to ensure they adhere to laws, regulations, and internal guidelines to prevent financial misconduct.
Money laundering is the process of making illegally obtained money appear legitimate by disguising its original source through a series of transactions.
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