Carlos Abarca, ex-chief information officer of TSB Banking Group (LSE:TSB), has been hit with an £81,620 fine from the Bank of England (BoE) over its 2018 IT system crash.
Some 5.2mln customers were left unable to access banking services via telephones, mobiles, the internet and even in person due to a fault on a new IT system adopted by TSB in April 2018.
TSB was already slammed with £48.7mln worth of fines in December over the issue, though the BoE’s Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) has now turned to Abarca’s personal role in the failure.
“He failed to take reasonable steps to ensure that TSB adequately managed and supervised appropriately its outsourcing arrangement in relation to its 2018 IT migration programme,” the BoE said in a statement on Thursday.
Abarca’s fine, which has been enforced under rules introduced after the 2008 financial crisis, would have been £116,600 but was lowered by 30% due to his cooperation.
“Senior managers have an essential role to play in ensuring that firms manage and supervise outsourcing effectively,” the BoE said in a statement on Thursday,” PRA boss Sam Woods added.
“In this case, the PRA has fined Mr Abarca because his management of a key outsourcing relationship fell below the standard we expect.”