The FT ran an article by Martin Arnold at the end of December that reported that bank legal penalties leapt to a record $56 billion in 2014 according to research completed by the paper. The story also reports the average fine levied by the FCA has increase five fold year-on-year. Obviously big hits during 2014 include the $16.6 billion fine paid by BoA to resolved mortgage related allegations, over $6 billion of FX related fines for several banks including JP Morgan, Citi, RBS (and BoA again), and the nearly $9 billion fine paid by BNP for violating trading sanctions (and reportedly not coming clean). The BNP episode was followed by a suspension of USD clearing for one year for the French bank and the "retirement" of its ex CEO and standing Chairman.
The Guardian reported on 12 November 2014 that total cummulative bank fines for the period of 2009 to 2013 alone was £166 billion, according to CCP Research.
All of this underscores the the real financial costs to shareholders (after tax and capital destructive) of not getting adequate risk oversight, control frameworks, and compliance disclosure in place to the full satisfaction of their regulator.
Another wake up call for board members and the ever growing emphasis on enhanced risk governance for the commercial banking industry.
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