Britain’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) has handed down a £2.275 million (SFr3.75 million) fine to Zurich Financial Services for loss of client data.
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The supervisory body said on Tuesday this was the highest fine to date imposed on a single firm for data security failings.
It added that Zurich UK, a subsidiary of ZFS, had lost a tape in South Africa containing details of 46,000 insurance customers. It was not aware of the loss until a year later, the authority said.
“Zurich UK let its customers down badly,” commented Margaret Cole, director of the authority’s director of enforcement and financial crime.
“Firms across the financial sector would do well to look at the details of this case and learn from the mistakes that Zurich UK made.”
Based in London, Zurich UK said it recognised this was a “serious incident” and regretted the concern the loss had caused to a number of its general insurance customers.
The FSA said the fine had been reduced by 30 per cent after Zurich UK had agreed to settle at an early stage.
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