UK regulators have imposed an £81,000 wonderful on a former TSB info officer over the financial institution’s IT meltdown in 2018 that left thousands and thousands of consumers locked out of their accounts.

The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) stated Carlos Abarca, who was TSB’s chief info officer on the time of the meltdown, “did not take affordable steps” to make sure that an outsourcing agency owned by TSB’s guardian firm was prepared to hold out the IT migration of consumers en masse.

The wonderful towards Abarca comes months after the financial institution itself was fined £48m in December for “widespread and severe” failings associated to the debacle, which arose throughout its separation from its former guardian firm, Lloyds Banking Group.

Abarca is the one TSB govt thus far to be held personally accountable by regulators for the IT migration failure.

The Financial institution of England declined to remark when requested whether or not any investigations into different bosses have been going down. It might depart the door open for additional fines towards administrators and executives who have been working at TSB on the time of the meltdown.

Paul Pester was compelled to resign as TSB’s chief govt inside months of the incident, after intense criticism from regulators and MPs.

The wonderful for Abarca is without doubt one of the few issued beneath the UK regulatory senior managers’ regime, which goals to carry bosses personally accountable when issues go improper.

Abarca had been liable for ensuring TSB was following the PRA’s outsourcing guidelines, and had been managing the financial institution’s relationship with its fundamental third-party provider for its IT migration programme.

The regulator stated Abarca gave assurances to the board, telling them the provider was prepared for the migration in early 2018, however did this earlier than he had obtained enough assurances from the provider itself. It resulted in chaos for thousands and thousands of consumers, who have been locked out of their accounts for weeks after the incident started in April 2018, with some nonetheless going through points in December that yr.

Abarca left TSB a yr later, in December 2019, earlier than becoming a member of TSB’s Spanish guardian firm, Sabadell, as its chief expertise officer. He stepped down from Sabadell earlier this yr.

“Senior managers have a vital function to play in making certain that companies handle and supervise outsourcing successfully,” stated the PRA’s chief govt, Sam Woods. “On this case, the PRA has fined Abarca as a result of his administration of a key outsourcing relationship fell under the usual we anticipate.”

The PRA decreased Abarca’s wonderful by 30% after he agreed to settle the matter. The wonderful would have in any other case been £116,600.