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Financial Times: FSA fines for 2007 lowest in six years: in 2004 Royal Dutch Shell was fined £17m for market abuse

By Elaine Moore
Published: December 30 2007 21:43 | Last updated: December 30 2007 21:43

The Financial Services Authority levied less in fines this year than in the past six years, in spite of claiming that it intended to take a more robust approach to policing the financial services industry.

Fines totalled £5.3m in 2007, compared with £13.3m in 2006.

The average fine levied, £232,000, was also less than half the average given in the previous year.

However, the number of fines handed out, 23, was not significantly below the number given last year, 28.

Fines in former years have been dominated by large single payments. Last year, Deutsche Bank paid £6.3m and in 2004 Royal Dutch Shell was fined £17m for market abuse.

But in 2007 only one organisation, Norwich Union, was fined more than £1m. The insurance company was penalised £1.26m in December for not properly managing financial crime risks and failing to protect its customers’ confidential information.

In the past, the FSA has been compared unfavourably with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The FSA said there had been a number of significant fines this year but stressed that fines were not the only tool in its enforcement armoury.

It said: ”The amount of times we have taken action is a very similar number to last year and this reflects, amongst other things, our close scrutiny of the growing small firms market we regulate.”

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007

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