City fine: Bank of England tells Metro Bank to pay millions for reporting and governance failures that went on for years
Metro Bank was told this morning by the Bank of England to pay close to £5.4m for failures with regards to the quality of its reporting and governance.
The central bank’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) watchdog confirmed it imposed the penalty on the challenger bank over failings between May 2016 and January 2019.
On January 23 2019, Metro Bank saw its shares plunge after confirming to investors it had been forced to make corrections to the risk weightings of certain commercial loan portfolios on its balance sheet.
Sam Woods, deputy governor for prudential regulation at the Bank of England and chief executive officer of the PRA, said: “We expect firms to invest appropriate and adequate resources to ensure that they submit accurate regulatory returns.
“Metro Bank failed to meet the standards of governance and controls expected of it, resulting in today’s enforcement action.”
am Woods, deputy governor for prudential regulation at the Bank of England
In a statement, Metro Bank said: “Metro Bank has co-operated fully with the PRA’s investigation and agreed the resolution of this matter with the PRA.
“In the time since the RWA (risk weighed asset) errors that were the basis of the PRA’s investigation were identified, Metro Bank has made significant improvements to, and substantial investment in, its regulatory reporting processes and controls.
“It has also strengthened its broader risk management and governance, demonstrating its commitment to accurate regulatory reporting and compliant growth.”