Citigroup has been fined for a $444 billion trading error. Regulators, including the FCA and the Bank of England's PRA, claim that the necessary controls were not in place to prevent such errors. The original transaction was for $58 million, but ended up being worth $444 billion. Although some systems detected the error, 1.4 billion dollars were actually executed on the market before the error was corrected.
The FCA is critical not only of the initial error, but above all of the system's ability to allow such an error to pass despite the warnings and blocks in place. Citigroup reacted by adjusting its control system, but the incident raises questions about the effectiveness of IT security measures in the banking sector. The fine imposed, although reduced by 30% thanks to Citigroup's cooperation, remains one of the highest in the UK for this type of misconduct.
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