UK's Co-operative Bank escapes fine for past failings

London

THE Co-operative Bank will not be fined for failings that helped push the bank to the brink of collapse before it was bailed out by bondholders, Britain's financial regulators said on Tuesday. Instead, capital should be preserved to bolster its battered balance sheet, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said.

Co-op Bank is trying to recover from its near-collapse in 2013, when it was hit by a yawning hole in its finances, a drugs scandal, an exodus of top executives and losses from bad commercial real estate loans. The crisis saw bondholders take control of the bank, with its long-time owner, the mutual Co-operative Group, relegated to a minority holding.