Vocalink Fined £11.9M Over Governance Failures

The Bank of England has fined Mastercard-owned Vocalink £11.9 million ($16.2 million) for failing to adequately address risk management and governance failures, representing the first such penalty against a financial market infrastructure firm. The fine was reduced from an initial £20 million due to Vocalink's early admission of the issues and cooperation, resulting in a 45% discount. Compliance shortcomings were identified in 2020, focusing on deficiencies in internal systems, controls, and escalation of key risks. Vocalink missed the February 2025 deadline to fully resolve these issues, despite implementing a remediation program and making improvements. The company emphasized that the failures did not affect service delivery to UK consumers and businesses. The Bank of England stressed the importance of robust governance in entities that process the majority of UK salaries, household bills, and state benefits.