UK's Financial Conduct Authority fines Barclays record $62 million for client asset breaches

LONDON – U.K. regulators fined Barclays Bank Plc, Britain's second-biggest bank, a record 37.7 million pounds ($62 million) for failing to properly protect client assets.

The Financial Conduct Authority said Tuesday that the penalty was the largest ever for such violations and reflected significant weakness in the systems and controls at Barclays' investment banking division between November 2007 and January 2012.

Tracey McDermott, FCA director of enforcement and financial crime, says Barclays "failed to apply the lessons from our previous enforcement actions, numerous industry-wide warnings, and exposed its clients to unnecessary risk."

Barclays said it has already corrected the problems, which it had discovered and voluntarily reported.