UK: Syedur Rahman Of Business Crime Solicitors Rahman Ravelli Examines The Financial Conduct Authority's Reasons For Fining Goldman Sachs £34m

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Goldman Sachs £34,344,700 for failing to submit accurate data relating to more than 200 million transactions over almost ten years.

For that period, which ended in 2017, Goldman Sachs did not provide complete, accurate and timely information in relation to approximately 213 million reportable transactions. And yet it incorrectly reported 6.6 million transactions to the FCA that were not reportable.

In announcing the fine, Mark Steward, the FCA's Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight, said: "The failings in this case demonstrate a failure over an extended period to manage and test controls that are vitally important to the integrity of our markets. These were serious and prolonged failures.

"We expect all firms will take this opportunity to ensure they can fully detail their activity and are regularly checking their systems so any problems are detected and remedied promptly, unlike in this case."

The FCA also found that Goldman Sachs had failed to take reasonable and effective care to organise its affairs responsibly in relation to transaction reporting. These failings related to Goldman Sachs' change management processes, its maintenance of the counterparty reference data that was used in its reporting and its methods of testing both the accuracy and completeness of all the transactions it reported to the FCA.

In a statement after the fine had been imposed, Goldman Sachs said that it was pleased to have resolved what it called "this legacy matter''.

It added: "We dealt with the issues proactively at the time and have made significant investments across the period to develop and enhance our reporting procedures."

The FCA's actions in this case show quite clearly that it is serious when it comes to taking action against those who breach the MiFID (Markets in Financial Instruments Directive) reporting standards. It is imperative that financial institutions are always seeking to develop and enhance their reporting procedures.

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