An Australian investment bank has been fined £13million by the financial watchdog after one of its London workers logged hundreds of fake trades to hide his losses.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said Macquarie failed to spot more than 400 fictitious trades made by Travis Klein, who worked on the metals and bulk trading desk at its branch in the capital, between June 2020 and February 2022 due to ‘significant weaknesses’ in its systems and controls.
The FCA said Klein bypassed ‘three key internal controls without detection for over 20 months’, including a daily profit and loss reporting process.
It estimated the fake trades cost Macquarie around £45.8million to unwind after they were discovered in 2022, but this did not affect its customers or the wider market.
Fine: The FCA said Macquarie failed to spot more than 400 fictitious trades made by Travis Klein, who worked at its branch in the City between June 2020 and February 2022
Klein, who resigned on the day his activities were discovered, has been banned from the financial services industry, the FCA said.
Macquarie said it took the matter ‘very seriously’.
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