FCA fines Santander UK £12.4m over flawed investment advice

Santander UK has agreed to pay redress to affected customers after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fined the bank £12.4m for what it said were "widespread" investment advice failings.

It follows a 13-month probe by the regulator which began after concerns about the bank's investment advice emerged during a mystery shopping exercise. Among its findings were that Santander's advisers were not "fully getting to grips" with customers' personal circumstances, or their attitudes to risk, before making a recommendation. New advisers were also not adequately trained, the FCA said. According to the regulator, Santander failed to ensure that customers investing were given clear and not misleading information about its products and services. For Santander's Premium Investm...