Bank of Scotland fined £4.2 million for 'inaccurate' mortgage records
The regulator found that the bank had two unaligned systems, meaning it didn't know what deals some mortgage customers were on.
Bank of Scotland has been fined £4.2 million by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for keeping inaccurate mortgage records for 250,000 of its customers.
The FSA says the bank held customers’ mortgage information on two separate, unaligned systems and didn’t carry out manual updates correctly between 2004 and 2011.
This meant that some Halifax customers on standard variable rates (SVRs) received confusing information about their mortgages. This was because the bank couldn’t identify accurately which customers had a cap on their SVR.
To compound the error, they were then excluded from a goodwill compensation programme while a staggering 22,700 other customers, whose mortgages were fine, mistakenly received compensation payments totalling £20.4 million.
As a result, the FSA has ruled that Bank of Scotland breached Principle Three of its Principles for Business, which requires a firm "to organise and control its affairs responsibly and effectively”.
As the bank co-operated with the FSA investigation, it avoided a larger fine of £6 million.
It's the latest in a string of high-profile bank IT failures, including a software upgrade that went wrong at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) that affected RBS, NatWest and Ulster Bank customers, and Nationwide customers being double-charged.
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I do think you are missing the main point, this went on for seven years. People were made to pay money they were not legally due to. Why has the FSA called in the Serious Fraud Office? Just look at HSBC and what they are doing around the World? Is the behaviour of Mr Flint the Chairman of HSBC Holdings Plc, Acceptable in any decent Society? Mr Flint & Mr Gulliver talk about Courageous Integrity & HSBC Values, have they showed Courageous Integrity & HSBC Values? Why did they not appear before the Senate sub-Committee & apologise for the behviour of HSBC in they USA? When the Chairman was questioned at the 2011 & 2012 AGM concerning the very serious complaints & problems in India, why did he not tell the truth to shareholders? Even today Mr Milne the CEO & the staff of HSBC India refuse to provide or answers in full questions by their customers, why are they allowed to breach this Courageuous Integriy & HSBC Values? Mr Flint states no current member of Management should be held responsible for the past, but Mr Flint is the past 17 years as Finance Director 2 years as Chairman. Mr Flint you are the past & present of HSBC, are you trying to ignore your RESPONSIBILITY? How many lives has HSBC India ruined, since 2005-2011 over 487,000 complaints registered, how many more people did HSBC India refuse to register their complaints? Should Mr Flint as Chairman be interviewed by the City of London Police under caution? Please go to youtube: stop cheating bankers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl5O-2mJDwc&feature=youtu.be Kind regards A very concerned shareholder. Michael Mason-Mahon Mobile: 0044 7834763544 Mobile: 0044 7448770801 E-mail: ckmdm@aol.com "First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win
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What can one say except the FSA & Lord Turner should realise this was going on for seven years. Why not a Fine of £ 2 Million per year & Fines for each of the Board of Directors. Will they still get a reductions of 30% for paying quickly, if this is true? When will the FSA wake up and start making these Banks behaviour in a fit and proper manner. The FSA SHOULD TAKE A VERY GOOD LOOK at HSBC Holdings Plc. Why has the FSA not banned any Board Director of any of the Banks? Stop them from working as a Director of any company again, then and only then these Directors CEO's and Chairmen may watch their behaviour. What HSBC has done in the USA, is this not enough to charge the Chairman or any of the Directors of wrong doing? O I forgot the ex- Chairman Mr Green was made a Lord by the Prime Minister, is this the reason why the FSA has not charge anyone at HSBC. Will Mr Flint still be the Chairman of HSBC Holdings Plc at the next AGM or will someone expose what this Bank has been doing in India? Kind regards Michael Mason-Mahon (Very concerned shareholder) Mobile: 0044 7834763544 Mobile: 0044 7448770801 E-mail: ckmdm@aol.com "First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win."
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My advice is simple. Sack; the IT dept, the legal dept, the governance and support dept, the financial records dept. then sack the directors. Once this is done it is best to get a good old fashioned honest book keeper to ensure he/she regularly checks all the banks records of every transaction to ensure that the auditors have good records to work with. Better still have a shadow board made up of customers who can hold the directors and various dept accountable before any problems raise their heads. But this is too easy and doesn't cost millions so nobody will allow common sense to run a financial institution.
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21 October 2012