Barclays PLC (BCS) has been fined GBP2.45 million by the Financial Services Authority for failing to provide accurate reports of securities transactions and not having strong enough reporting systems in place.

The markets watchdog said it found discrepancies in Barclays' data while it was investigating a suspected incidence of market abuse by a third party. It then reviewed Barclays' transaction reporting arrangements and found the banks' systems and controls to report transactions were inadequate, as well as errors in the data it submitted to the FSA.

"Complete and accurate transaction reports are an essential component of the FSA's market monitoring work. Barclays' reporting failures could have a damaging impact on our ability to detect and investigate suspected market abuse," Alexander Justham, FSA director of markets said in a statement.

He said the penalty is significantly higher than those in other cases of transaction reporting errors, reflecting the "serious nature of Barclays' breaches" and to serve as a warning to other firms that the FSA won't tolerate inadequate systems and controls.

Because Barclays cooperated fully with the FSA on the investigation and agreed to an early settlement, its fine was reduced from GBP3.5 million.

Company Web site: http://www.fsa.gov.uk

-By Margot Patrick, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9451; margot.patrick@dowjones.com