Insufficient trading system controls cost Citigroup about €13 million ($13.94 million) from Germany’s banking authority. The agency stated Thursday that this is the country’s highest consumer protection enforcement penalty.
A 2022 error caused $1.4 billion in unauthorized sell orders, which led to the penalties. The British government penalized Citigroup £61.6 million ($78.24 million) for the identical occurrence in May.
Citigroup placed a $444 billion order instead of $58 million on May 2, 2022. According to British officials, a trader’s “fat-finger” mistake caused $1.4 billion in erroneous sell orders.
Citigroup Global Markets Europe AG failed to stop these erroneous orders, according to BaFin. The BaFin cautioned that such inaccuracies could “trigger or at least contribute to market disruption.”
Frankfurt’s Citigroup responded, “We have strengthened our systems and controls and remain committed to full regulatory compliance.” It said, “We are pleased to resolve this matter from more than two years ago, which arose from an individual error that was identified and corrected within minutes.”
A single trader’s “fat-finger” input error caused the error, according to British and German officials.