Bank of America Corp’s (NYSE:BAC) broking arm Merrill Lynch has been fined £34.5mln (US$45.5mln) by the UK’s financial regulator.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said the fine was imposed because Merrill Lynch failed to report 68.5mln exchange traded derivative transactions between February 2014 and February 2016.
In a statement, the UK watchdog said: “This is the first enforcement action against a firm for failing to report details of trading in exchange traded derivatives, under the European Markets Infrastructure Regulation and reflects the importance the FCA puts on this type of reporting.”
Mark Steward, the FCA’s executive director of enforcement and market oversight, added: “"There needs to be a line in the sand. We will continue to take appropriate action against any firm that fails to meet requirements."
The FCA said Merrill Lynch received a 30% discount on the overall fine after agreeing to settle at an early stage.