British regulators imposed a $79 million fine on Citi for fat-finger trading and control errors.

• On Wednesday, U.S. investment bank Citi was fined a total of £61.6 million ($79 million) by British regulators for flaws in its trading systems and controls.
• The Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority issued fines during the investigation period between April 1, 2018, and May 31, 2022.

On Wednesday, U.S. investment bank Citi was fined a total of £61.6 million ($79 million) by British regulators for flaws in its trading systems and controls.

The Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority issued fines, which were focused on the period between April 1, 2018, and May 31, 2022. Citi qualified for a 30% reduction in the amount of the penalty after agreeing to resolve the matter.

The PRA's deputy governor, Sam Woods, stated on Wednesday that firms engaged in trading must have effective risk management controls in place. However, CGML [Citigroup Global Markets Limited] did not meet these expectations, leading to a fine.

During the investigation, regulators discovered that several system and control problems occurred, leading to trading incidents such as fat-finger trading errors. The most significant incident occurred on May 2, 2022, when an experienced trader mistakenly entered an order, resulting in $1.4 billion being inadvertently executed on European exchanges.

The incident was caused by inadequate trading controls in CGML, including the lack of preventative hard blocks and improper calibration of other controls.

A Citi spokesperson stated that the bank was pleased to resolve a two-year-old matter that was caused by an individual error and was quickly identified and corrected.

The spokesperson stated that we promptly took measures to fortify our systems and oversight, and continue to prioritize adherence to regulatory standards.