Regulators fine RBS 5.6 million pounds

LONDON (AP) -- British regulators have fined the Royal Bank of Scotland 5.6 million pounds ($8.6 million) for incorrectly reporting nearly 45 million transactions it made on financial markets.

The Financial Conduct Authority revealed Wednesday that taxpayer-owned RBS failed to register properly 44.8 million transactions between November 2007 and February 2013 — 37 percent of all deals made in that period.

The FCA said most of the errors involved using the wrong reference code. This made it impossible to identify the other party in the deal and check if any insider trading or other violation had taken place.

The authority says that many of the problems came from RBS' takeover of ABN Amro in October 2007, but adds that's no excuse. RBS "should have been able to overcome these challenges," the FCA said.