UK financial watchdog fines Macquarie Bank $13 million for fraudulent transactions

Unlock Editor's Digest for free

FT editor-in-chief Roula Khalaf picks her favorite articles from this week's newsletter.

Britain's financial watchdog has fined Macquarie Bank $13 million after one of its traders in London recorded more than 400 false transactions to hide losses.

The Financial Conduct Authority said: The virtual transactions were not detected early due to significant weaknesses in Macquarie Banks' systems and controls. The bank added that it had previously recognized some weaknesses.

Travis Klein, a trader on Macquarie's London metals and bulk trading desk, has been banned from the financial services industry after circumventing bank controls without detection for more than 20 months.

The watchdog said it would have fined Klein $72,000 had his application for serious financial hardship been unsuccessful.

Klein recorded numerous fake transactions over a 20-month period starting in June 2020 to conceal his losses. He was able to complete several key internal controls, including the daily profit and loss reporting process.

The FCA wrote that the same traders responsible for the fictitious trades could have submitted falsified broker quotes to assess the profitability of their positions.

Macquarie discovered Klein's strategy to hide losses in February 2022 and his trades were liquidated, resulting in losses of nearly $60 million.

According to the FCA, Australian banks were previously notified of certain issues relating to trading controls in 2020. It came up with a strategy called Project Papa to address some of the recommendations, but found that regulators had failed to implement them properly.

Klein started working as a trader in Macquarie's Sydney office in 2017 and moved to its London office a year later. He de-risked his books and devised a plan to hide his losses after being told not to take any more risks for two weeks. Internally, it is called the benching process.

The scheme came to light when Macquarie detected what appeared to be fraudulent trading activity during routine internal risk control reporting in February 2022.

Klein, who resigned the day after his trading activities were revealed, told the FCA he made the plan because he felt he could not be let down. [Commodity Markets and Finance] supervisor.

Regulators declined to release contact information for Kleins' attorneys.

The FCA said customers and counterparties were not affected by Kleins' activities and the virtual transactions had no direct impact on the market.

Macquarie said it had implemented a series of improvements to its controls following the incident.

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos