The PRA fines a NED - The former NED of Wyelands Bank Plc is fined £72k

The PRA fines former Wyelands NED, George Hambro, £72,000 for regulatory breaches.

On 2 April 2025, the PRA issued a Final Notice to George Jay Hambro, the former Notified NED of Wyelands Bank Plc (Wyelands), for breaching Individual Conduct Rule 2, which requires individuals to act with due skill, care and diligence.

Mr Hambro's conduct between July 2017 and February 2020 fell below the standards expected of a person in his position, demonstrating a severe lack of due skill, care and diligence in three areas:

• Recognition of Capital:
  • Mr Hambro failed to inquire about the appropriateness of the funding mechanism for a £10m capital injection into Wyelands, which was indirectly funded from the proceeds of a loan Wyelands had made to a third party.
  • His failure contributed to Wyelands' reporting capital to the PRA as Common Equity Tier 1 capital when it was not.

• Conflict of Interest:
  • He failed to take steps to ensure Wyelands' internal policy, which managed conflicts of interest between Wyelands and the wider Gupta Family Group Alliance (GFG) (with whom Wyelands had significant business interactions), was complied with when he was involved in proposing transactions or potential transactions between Wyelands and GFG members or business associates of GFG.

• Large Exposures Assessments:
  • Mr Hambro failed to make sufficient enquiries as to the date of a GFG executive’s resignation as a director of a GFG entity, before he gave instructions to another GFG executive to record the date of the first GFG executive’s resignation.

• Mr Hambro understood the resignation date was relevant to Wyelands’ and the PRA’s assessments as to whether Wyelands was in breach of the significant exposures limit applicable to it.
• The PRA has imposed a financial penalty of £72,000 on Mr Hambro.
• The penalty includes a 300% adjustment for deterrence. Mr Hambro agreed to settle this matter after the end of the discount period and did not qualify for a reduction of 30% in the fine.

This Notice follows on from the PRA's decision.

• In April 2023, to publicly censure Wyelands for regulatory failings and
• https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/news/2023/april/pra-censures-wyelands-bank-plc-for-breaching-large-exposure-limits-and-failings
• https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/files/prudential-regulation/regulatory-action/final-notice-from-pra-to-wyelands-bank-plc.pdf
• In January 2024, Iain Mark Hunter, the former Wyelands CEO, was fined £118,808 for breaching PRA Conduct Rules.
• https://www.aoshearman.com/en/insights/ao-shearman-on-investigations/former-chief-executive-of-bank-fined-for-failing-to-take-reasonable-steps

source

https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/-/media/boe/files/prudential-regulation/regulatory-action/2025/final-notice-from-boe-and-pra-to-george-jay-hambro.pdf