The Memo: Monzo fined £21 million by the Financial Conduct Authority for lack of proper financial controls

Where we keep our money is a pretty important thing, right? Whether you’re looking to invest, save or spend, it’s important that your money is safe and protected where you choose to store it. You’ve probably heard of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) before (especially if you’re interested in practice areas like banking & finance), but if you haven’t, the FCA is the regulator responsible for regulating the conduct of financial firms, protecting consumers, and making sure that firms are acting with integrity and in line with all the necessary rules and regulations. This week, the FCA fined digital bank Monzo just over £21 million for failing to put proper controls in place to protect against financial crime.  

Monzo's main issue was the fact that customers were able to register their bank accounts to home addresses described by the FCA as “implausible.” These bogus addresses included 10 Downing Street, Buckingham Palace and even Monzo’s own headquarters; after all, it’s unlikely Kier Starmer or King Charles were hopping on the Monzo hype to organise their financials. Customers had also signed up for bank accounts using PO boxes and foreign addresses with UK postcodes, and the bank allowed multiple customers to sign up for accounts using the same address. Using such addresses creates opportunity for financial crime to be hidden more easily than it should be. Similarly, too many accounts registered to one address increases the risk of so-called money muling, where a person may allow their bank account to become a vehicle for the proceeds of organised crime.  

The fine concluded the FCA’s four-year investigation, and Monzo has since upped its financial controls to meet the standards required by the regulator. The original penalty totalled £30.1 million, but was discounted to £21.2 million after the bank agreed to resolve any problems to ensure that they were operating in line with all the necessary regulations. It also follows digital bank Starling’s fine of £29 million in October 2024, which was issued over lax financial crime controls. Both banks have grown massively in customer numbers since their creation, and these problems seem to have been created because they were unable to keep up with adequate financial conduct while undergoing such rapid growth.