The UK financial market regulator FSA announced on Wednesday that it has fined the French bank Societe Generale £1.6 million ($2.4 million) for failing to submit accurate transaction reports.
The fine to the bank, which lost around €5 billion in a trading scandal in 2008, follows penalties for similar offenses that the FSA has already imposed on banks Barclays, Credit Suisse, and Commerzbank. The UK regulator found that from November 2007 to February 2010, Societe Generale failed to report or submitted inaccurate reports on 18.8 million out of a total of 23.5 million transactions. Furthermore, the bank continued to violate regulations even after the FSA repeatedly warned companies of their obligations to provide accurate data, as well as the importance of complying with regulations related to transaction reporting.
"Societe Generale submitted inaccurate reports on a very high proportion of transactions over an extended period," said Margaret Cole, director of the FSA’s enforcement and financial crime division."This failure represents a serious breach of our regulations as it can adversely affect our ability to detect and investigate potential illegal activities," she added. A spokesperson for Societe Generale in London stated that the bank fully cooperated with investigators and has taken and will continue to take all necessary steps to ensure compliance with FSA obligations in the future. (H)
