Barclays fined by watchdog

British bank Barclays has been fined £2.45m (€2.8m) by the City watchdog for “serious weaknesses” in transaction reporting at its investment banking arm, it was announced today.

The fine marks the eighth largest ever imposed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

The FSA said systems and controls failures came to light while it was investigating suspected market abuse by a third party.

Barclays escaped an even bigger fine of £3.5m (€4m) after the FSA offered a 30% discount following co-operation from the banking giant.