This enforcement data shows the enforcement action we took in 2019/20 and it forms part of our Annual Report.
Overview of enforcement action
In 2019/20, we issued 203 Final Notices (187 against firms and individuals trading as firms and 16 against individuals), secured 217 outcomes using our enforcement powers (208 regulatory/civil and 9 criminal) and imposed 15 financial penalties totalling £224.4m.
Chart tips: hover over data series to view the data values and filter the data categories by clicking on the legend.
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Data table
Figure 1 shows the total amount of financial fines imposed in 2019/20 compared to previous years. The total amount of fines decreased slightly by 1% from £227.3m in 2018/19 to £224.4m in 2019/20. The total amount of fines in 2018/19 increased significantly by 225% from £69.9m in 2017/18. In 2019/20 the largest single fine was for £102.2m against Standard Chartered Bank.
In 2018/19 the largest was for £76m against Stewart Owen Ford, and in 2017/18 the largest was for £34.5m against Merrill Lynch International.
Table 1: Financial penalties imposed
|
|
2017/18 |
2018/19 |
2019/20 |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Number imposed |
16 |
16 |
15 |
|
Total value |
£69.9m |
£227.3m |
£224.4m |
|
Number imposed against firms |
6 |
8 |
12 |
|
Total value imposed against firms |
£69.0m |
£147.1m |
£224.1m |
|
Number imposed against individuals |
10 |
8 |
3 |
|
Total value against individuals |
£0.9m |
£80.2m |
£0.3m |
Transparency
To support our commitment to being a transparent regulator, we provide details of the length and cost of our enforcement activities (based on cases that closed in the year).
Regulatory and civil cases
Case length
Contested cases take a significantly longer time to resolve than settled cases.
Table 2: Average length of regulatory and civil cases
|
Year |
Average length of cases resolved by agreement (months) |
Average length of cases referred to RDC (months) |
Average length of cases referred to Tribunal (months) |
Average length of all cases, including NFA cases (months) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2017/18 |
32.3 |
59.4 |
52.4 |
19.1 |
|
2018/19 |
29.1 |
50.8 |
74.1 |
17.5 |
|
2019/20 |
37.4 |
53.5 |
57.0 |
23.9 |
Table 2 shows the average length of time civil and regulatory cases take from the date we began the investigation to the date of closure, whether it was resolved by agreement, referred to the Regulatory Decisions Committee (RDC) or Tribunal, or closed with no further action (NFA).
Case costs
Table 3: Average cost of regulatory and civil cases
|
Year |
Average cost of cases resolved by agreement (£000s) |
Average cost of cases referred to RDC (£000s) |
Average cost of cases referred to Tribunal (£000s) |
Average cost of all cases, including NFA cases (£000s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2017/18 |
£290.5 |
£469.0 |
£712.4 |
£137.8 |
|
2018/19 |
£195.2 |
£253.5 |
£447.3 |
£103.4 |
|
2019/20 |
£341.6 |
£748.8 |
£601.8 |
£229.0 |
Table 3 shows the average cost of our civil and regulatory cases. The resource required for each case varies depending on factors including scale and complexity. The cost of regulatory cases we have conducted can range from around £2,000 to over £2m.
Criminal cases
Case length
Table 4: Average length of criminal cases
|
Year |
Average length of criminal cases in the wholesale area |
Average length of criminal cases in the Unauthorised Business Department (UBD) area |
Average length of all criminal cases |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2017/18 |
59.8 |
57.7 |
58.2 |
|
2018/19 |
126.0 |
25.7 |
75.9 |
|
2019/20 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
Table 4 shows the average length of time for a criminal case. Criminal cases can take significantly longer to resolve than regulatory cases.
No criminal cases were closed in the 2019/20 period.
Case costs
Table 5: Average cost of criminal cases
|
Year |
Average cost of criminal cases in the wholesale area |
Average cost of criminal cases in the UBD area |
Average cost of all criminal cases |
|---|---|---|---|
|
2017/18 |
£1601.6 |
£939.3 |
£1160.1 |
|
2018/19 |
£14342.7 |
£122.0 |
£7232.4 |
|
2019/20 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
Table 5 shows the average cost of our criminal cases.Generally, we pursue fewer criminal cases in comparison to regulatory action. But the costs for individual criminal cases can be significantly higher than regulatory cases.
No criminal cases were closed in the 2019/20 period.
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Data table
Figure 2 shows the number of cases opened and cases closed in 2019/20 compared with 2018/19 and 2017/18, and the total number of open cases (ie work in progress) as at the end of each financial year for those 3 years. Opened cases increased by 14% from 302 to 343 between 2017/18 and 2018/19, and decreased by 46% to 184 in 2019/20. Closed cases decreased by 9% from 208 to 189 between 2017/18 and 2018/19, and decreased slightly by 2% to 185 in 2019/20. Open cases increased by 30% from 496 to 647 between the end of 2017/18 and the end of 2018/19, and remained virtually flat decreasing by less than 1% to 646 at the end of 2019/20. Overall, we achieved a balance between opened and closed cases in 2019/20, resulting in a stable total number of open cases.
Table 6: Case movements
|
Type of case |
Open at 1 April 2019 |
Opened during year |
Closed during year |
Open at 31 March 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Retail conduct |
119 |
60 |
45 |
134 |
|
Advice – pensions |
64 |
14 |
17 |
61 |
|
Pensions scam |
17 |
0 |
2 |
15 |
|
Investment scam |
3 |
11 |
0 |
14 |
|
Retail lending |
7 |
5 |
4 |
8 |
|
Financial crime |
83 |
11 |
23 |
71 |
|
Wholesale conduct |
51 |
10 |
13 |
48 |
|
Insider dealing |
99 |
35 |
46 |
88 |
|
Market manipulation |
26 |
11 |
8 |
29 |
|
Listing/Prospectus Rules/DTR Breaches |
7 |
3 |
3 |
7 |
|
Misleading statements |
34 |
4 |
9 |
29 |
|
Unauthorised business |
137 |
20 |
15 |
142 |
|
Totals (excluding TCT cases) |
647 |
184 |
185 |
646 |
Cases may involve multiple parties and include both firms and individuals.
We have restated open cases at 1 April 2019 from 650 (as originally stated in the 2018/19 report) to 647 to remove 3 cases that were opened in error. We also introduced a new type of case classification during the year – the type of case reflects the primary issue under investigation. TCT (Threshold Conditions Team) cases involve regulated firms that fail to meet our minimum standards ie Threshold Conditions.
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Data table
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Data table
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Data table
Figure 3 shows the number of outcomes publicised in 2019/20, by type of outcome, compared with previous years. In 2019/20 there were 176 variation/cancellation of permissions or withdrawal of approvals published. This represents 81.1% of the total outcomes for the year (217). In addition, there were 9 criminal outcomes (4.2%), 15 fines (6.9%), 4 civil outcomes (1.8%), 1 public censure (0.5%) and 12 prohibitions (5.5%).
This compares to 2018/19 where there were 238 variation/cancellation of permissions or withdrawal of approvals published. This represents 82.6% of the total outcomes for that year (288). In addition, there were 12 criminal outcomes (4.2%), 16 fines (5.6%), 20 prohibitions (6.9%) and 2 suspension/restrictions (0.7%).
This also compares to 2017/18 where there were 249 variation/cancellation of permissions or withdrawal of approvals published. This represents 78.6% of the total outcomes for that year (317). In addition, there were 14 criminal outcomes (4.4%), 16 fines (5.1%), 14 civil outcomes (4.4%), 1 public censure (0.3%), 19 prohibitions (6.0%), 2 suspension/restrictions (0.6%) and 2 redress/restitution outcomes (0.6%).
The majority of cancellation of permissions outcomes relate to consumer credit firms failing to pay fees or submit regulatory returns.
Threshold Conditions
Firms and individuals must meet at all times certain minimum standards (the Threshold Conditions for firms and the Fit and Proper test for individuals) in order to continue to be authorised by the FCA. We take action against firms and individuals that do not meet such criteria. This year, we cancelled 171 firms' permissions to conduct regulated business, and prohibited 6 individuals.
Table 7: Threshold Conditions cases in 2019/20
| Threshold Conditions Team (TCT) cases |
Open at 1 April 2019 |
Opened during the year |
Closed during the year |
Open at 31 March 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) firm cases |
16 |
113 |
67 |
71 |
|
Payment Services Directive firms |
1 |
11 |
6 |
9 |
|
Consumer Credit firms |
210 |
1509 |
1461 |
284 |
|
Money Laundering Directive firms |
5 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
|
UK Listing Authority firms |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive firms |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
TCT cases total |
232 |
1636 |
1537 |
369 |