NatWest had “resolved all its major legacy issues”, declared Sir Howard Davies, the chairman, 18 months ago, speaking far too soon. Here comes another potential nasty one. The Financial Conduct Authority is bringing criminal charges under the 2007 money laundering act, alleging the bank’s systems and controls “failed to adequately monitor and scrutinise” the deposit of £264m in cash in one corporate customer’s account between 2011 and 2016.
The City, in its normal breezy way, took the relaxed view that even if convicted, any hit to NatWest would be bearable. The bank’s shares fell only 1.5%. Maybe investors were thinking of the £163m penalty on Deutsche Bank in 2017, or the £102m on Standard Chartered in 2019, in civil cases brought by the FCA.
