The US Securities and Exchange Commission announced that London-based Barclays Bank will be refunding its customers almost $100 million in fees that were wrongly charged.
According to the SEC the banking giant overbilled their investment clients by almost $50 million.
“Barclays failed to ensure that clients were receiving the services they were paying for,” said C Dabney O’Riordan, co-chief of the SEC Asset Management Unit.
The re-imbursement will total US$97, including the original $50 million overcharge plus a US$30 million penalty and another $13.8 million in interest. The money will be placed in a fund dedicated to reimbursement and compensation of the overcharged investors.
Barclays charged about 2,000 clients for due diligence and monitoring services which were not delivered as expected. An additional 63 investors paid too much for mutual fund sales charges as a result of the bank recommending pricier share classes.
The SEC also found that 22,138 accounts had billing mistakes.
Barclays has neither denied or admitted to wrongdoing. A formal expression of guilt could expose companies to harmful investor lawsuits. The SEC almost never requires any admission of guilt.