The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has imposed fines on three money transfer firms after they admitted to fixing prices charged to consumers in Glasgow, Scotland.
Dollar East (International Travel & Money Transfer) Ltd; Hafiz Bros Travel & Money Transfer Limited; and LCC Trans-Sending Limited (including its parent company, Small World Financial Services Group Limited), trading as Small World, have been fined a combined total of over £150,000 for breaching competition law.
The FCA found that, between Feb. 18, 2017 and May 31, 2017, the firms coordinated on certain exchange rates offered to customers in Glasgow for converting UK pounds into Pakistan rupees when transferring money to Pakistan. They were also found to have fixed the transaction fee charged to customers when making certain money transfers from the UK to Pakistan via Small World’s Services. This price-fixing affected transfers made by customers at the Dollar East and Small World branches in Glasgow.
Small World paid a big price, as they were dinged £139,500. Hafiz Bros. shells out £11,200, while Dollar East was penalized £3,600.
The FCA found that Hafiz Bros, while not operating a branch serving customers in Glasgow, facilitated this conduct.
“Money transfer businesses are an important service relied upon by many communities up and down the country,” FCA Executive Director of Consumers and Competition Sheldon Mills said. “We saw evidence of these businesses operating as a cartel, working together to fix their prices and exchange rates on money transfers. This behaviour can lead to customers being ripped off, and it erodes public trust. We take this extremely seriously and will use our competition powers to protect consumers across the UK.”
The FCA said that under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, its strategic objective is to ensure that relevant markets function well. Three related operational objectives are to secure an appropriate degree of protection for consumers, to protect and enhance the integrity of the UK financial system, and to promote effective competition in the interests of consumers. A recent secondary objective is to facilitate the international competitiveness of the UK economy and its medium to long-term growth.