Merrill Lynch fined $45.5 mn in UK for failing to report transactions

Banks now have to report their derivatives trades in a timely way so that regulators can spot uncontrolled risks building up

Britain's financial watchdog has fined Bank of America's Merrill Lynch investment banking arm 34.5 million pounds ($45.5 million) for its third transaction reporting failure in just over a decade.

The Financial Conduct Authority said the bank failed to have adequate oversight arrangements, undertake testing or allocate enough staff to properly meet reporting obligations for derivatives trading between February 2014 and February 2016.

The bank agreed to settle at an early stage in the investigation and received a 30 per cent cut in the overall fine of 49.32 million pounds, the FCA said in a statement on Monday.

European Union regulators