LONDON (AP) — Britain’s financial regulator has fined the queen’s bank, Coutts Bank, 8.75 million pounds ($13.8 million) for failing to maintain effective controls on accounts of high-risk customers and to prevent money laundering.
The Financial Services Authority said Monday that the failures were “serious, systemic and allowed to persist for almost three years.”
Coutts, part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, specializes in private banking and wealth management. Known as the queen’s banker, Coutts offers free current accounts to customers who invest at least 250,000 pounds.
Coutts is part of the Wealth division of Royal Bank of Scotland. The division reported an operating profit of 321 million pounds in 2011.
