Barclays Fined £26m Over Gold Fixing Attempts

Barclay has been fined more than £26m over failings related to gold price manipulation. s

15:19 23 May 2014

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Barclays Banks for more than £26m for fiddling gold prices in 2012 – just a day after regulators fined it £290million over the Libor scandal. FCA said that the bank failed to adequately manage conflicts of interest between itself and customers. 

 

The FCA said: "On 28 June 2012, former Barclays trader Daniel James Plunkett exploited the weaknesses in Barclays' systems and controls to seek to influence that day's 3pm setting of the gold price and thereby profited at a customer's expense.

"As a result of Plunkett’s actions, Barclays was not obligated to make a $3.9m (£2.3m) payment to its customer, although it later compensated the customer in full.

"Plunkett’s actions boosted his own trading book by $1.75m - £1m - (excluding hedging)."

FCA also fined Mr Plunkett £95,600 and banned him from performing any function in relation to any regulated activity. However, he can still work in banks or other financial markets in other countries. 

Reacting to the news, Barclays CEO Antony Jenkins said: "We very much regret the situation that led to this settlement.

"Barclays has undertaken a significant amount of work to enhance our systems and controls and is committed to the highest standards across all of our operations."