Nationwide fined £44m for 'ineffective' crime controls. 

Detected Manipulations & Suggested Changes

Sensationalism

Use of somewhat dramatic or vivid language that can amplify perceived severity beyond the bare facts.

"Nationwide failed to get a proper grip of the financial crime risks lurking within its customer base," said Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA. "It took too long to address its flawed systems and weak controls, meaning red flags were missed with serious consequences," she said. These phrases ("failed to get a proper grip", "lurking", "serious consequences") are vivid and somewhat dramatic. However, they are clearly attributed as quotes from an FCA official, not presented as the reporter’s own characterisation. The article does not balance this rhetoric with more neutral paraphrasing or independent context about the actual scale and nature of the consequences.

3 suggestions

Add neutral paraphrasing before or after the quotes to frame them as characterisations rather than established fact, e.g.: "The FCA characterised Nationwide’s controls as inadequate, saying it had 'failed to get a proper grip...'"

Provide brief factual context about the actual consequences (e.g., how much was lost, how much recovered, whether customers suffered losses) to anchor the rhetoric in concrete outcomes.

Avoid adopting the same dramatic language in the reporter’s own voice; keep such wording clearly within quotation marks and explicitly attributed.

Omission of key information

Leaving out relevant contextual details that would help readers fully assess the significance of the events described.

The article states: "The customer who banked the illegitimate furlough payments received £27.3m over 13 months. Most, but not all of it, has since been recovered by the tax authority." and "In all, £64m of JRS funds were paid into more than 5,000 personal accounts at Nationwide, it said." However, it does not provide: - The total size of Nationwide’s personal account base or total JRS-related flows in the wider market, to contextualise whether £64m into 5,000 accounts is unusually high or low. - Any detail on whether other institutions faced similar issues or fines, which would help readers understand whether Nationwide’s failings were exceptional. - More detail on the nature of the "serious consequences" mentioned by the FCA (e.g., specific harms beyond the headline figures, whether customers were harmed, or only the public purse).

3 suggestions

Add comparative context, such as: "By comparison, X bank and Y bank received similar fines of £A and £B for related control failings during the same period," if such information is available.

Include scale context: "Nationwide has approximately [number] personal current accounts; the £64m in JRS funds represented [approximate percentage] of total JRS payments across UK banks," if data is available.

Clarify the consequences: specify whether any customers suffered direct financial loss, whether the losses were borne primarily by the tax authority, and whether there were any criminal prosecutions linked to the case.

Unbalanced reporting

Providing somewhat more weight or emphasis to one side’s framing or narrative, even if both sides are quoted.

The article quotes the FCA at length with strong evaluative language: "failed to get a proper grip", "flawed systems and weak controls", "serious consequences". Nationwide’s response is included and acknowledges shortcomings, but the structure and emphasis lean slightly toward the regulator’s framing: - The FCA’s criticisms and the description of failings come first and are more detailed. - Nationwide’s mitigation (self-identifying issues, investing in controls, belief that customers did not suffer loss) is presented later and more briefly. This is not extreme, but it does tilt the narrative toward the FCA’s perspective.

3 suggestions

Add a brief, neutral summary of Nationwide’s position earlier in the article, e.g., immediately after the fine is mentioned: "Nationwide said it had identified the shortcomings itself and has since invested heavily in improving its controls."

Include any available independent or third-party context (e.g., comments from industry analysts or consumer groups) to avoid a purely regulator-vs-institution framing.

Clarify that Nationwide cooperated and self-reported (if accurate and supported by sources), which would balance the portrayal of its conduct.