CACEIS UK censured and to pay £31.7m to WealthTek clients for weak financial crime controls
Financial Conduct Authority
CACEIS UK, an asset servicing bank, has been censured by the FCA and will make a £31.7m voluntary payment to WealthTek clients for failing to act on information that left clients exposed to the risk of financial crime.
The FCA has now secured over £57m in total for WealthTek clients in just over a year, with action taken against CACEIS UK, Sapia Partners and Barclays Bank UK.
CACEIS UK became WealthTek's sub-custodian in November 2020, meaning they were responsible for keeping its client’s assets safe. WealthTek was then known as Vertus Asset Management LLP.
On three occasions, CACEIS UK checked the Financial Services Register which showed that WealthTek wasn’t authorised to hold certain client assets but did not take sufficient action. The firm also did not spot that WealthTek was not allowed to hold client money. However, it went on to open client accounts for WealthTek to use, then failed to monitor those accounts properly by not promptly reviewing and resolving alerts raised by their system.
