Barclays Capital agreed today to pay a $15 million penalty to the Securities and Exchange Commission for failing to maintain an adequate internal compliance system. As a result, the bank ran afoul of federal securities laws after its U.S. wealth management business acquired the advisory business of Lehman Brothers in 2008.
Investment advisers are required to adopt and implement written compliance policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent violations of the Investment Advisers Act and its rules. An SEC examination and subsequent investigation, however, found that Barclays failed to enhance its compliance infrastructure to integrate and support the acquisition and rapid growth of the advisory business from Lehman. The deficiencies in its compliance systems contributed to other securities law violations by Barclays.
