Penalty relates to bribery and corruption investigation in Egypt and Russia
Willis has been fined £6.9m (€7.87m) by the FSA for failing to mitigate the risk of bribery and corruption.
The fine came about after an investigation identified suspicious payments to counterparties in Egypt and Russia.
The FSA's investigation found that £27m (€30.8m) in payments made to third parties between January 2005 and December 2009 were not sufficiently checked for risks.
“Willis failed to take the appropriate steps to ensure that payments it was making to overseas third parties were not being used for corrupt purposes,” said Tracey McDermott director of enforcement and financial crime at the FSA.
Willis’ cooperation in the case earned the firm a 30% discount on what would have been a £9.85 million fine.
“It goes without saying that our compliance framework and its application across the business are now very robust and central to the leadership of the company,” said Brendan McManus CEO of Willis.
This fine comes after the FSA declared that it would be cracking down on corruption in business.
Click here for the FSA’s report on the case.
For advice on how to combat fraud click Advice.
