Merrill Lynch International has been fined £13.2m by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for reporting failures.

This is the highest fine ever imposed by the FCA for transaction reporting failures. Merrill Lynch incorrectly reported 35,034,810 transactions and failing to report another 121,387 transactions between November 2007 and November 2014.

"Proper transaction reporting really matters. Merrill Lynch International has failed to get this right again – despite a private warning, a previous fine, and extensive FCA guidance and enforcement action in this area. The size of the fine sends a clear message that we expect to be heard and understood across the industry," said Georgina Philippou, FCA acting director of enforcement and market oversight.

"Accurate and timely reporting of transactions is crucial for us to perform effective surveillance for insider trading and market manipulation in support of our objective to ensure that markets work well and with integrity."

The FCA said the bank failed to adequately address the root causes over several years despite substantial FCA guidance to the industry and a poor history of transaction reporting compliance, consisting of a private warning issued in 2002 and a fine of £150,000 in 2006. 

The FCA has raised its fine to £1.50 per line of incorrect or non-reported data for the first time rather than the usual £1.00 per line it has used before because past fines have not been high enough to achieve credible deterrence.

MLI agreed to settle at an early stage of the investigation, and received a 30% reduction in their overall fine. Without this discount the fine would have been £18,979,876.