City watchdog the Financial Conduct Authority wasted £3.2 million of taxpayers' money on a deal with Oracle for software that was never used.
FCA officials admitted that the agency only required £1 million for a software they needed. But according to reports from This Is Money, the FCA paid a total of £4.2 million for a deal with San Francisco-based tech giant Oracle.
Oracle gave FCA discounts on one-year licenses to use various computer programmes on the condition that the agency should pay in advance. FCA miscalculated the deal and paid for unnecessary surplus products. Officials must reveal these mistakes as they report their accounts, but they refuse to give details of its Oracle deal. This is to avoid harming Oracle's interests for future negotiations.
FCA's major role is to make sure that banks and other financial organizations adhere to the rules and prevent them from ripping off their customers.
Just recently, FCA released an online newsletter warning commodities firms that trades anywhere from oil to gold to review their operations to avoid possible market abuse. According to The Wall Street Journal, FCA found that these firms are complacent in monitoring their operations to prevent high-profile market abuse.
Another issue surrounding FCA is the ending of the terms of three of its board members. The FCA must now look for the right replacement at a testing time as a relatively young agency. Its chief executive Martin Wheatley was replaced by Chancellor George Osborne in July. Osborne recruited Russell Reynolds to look for three new members for its 11 board members.
Going back to the deal with Oracle, TaxPayers' Alliance chief executive Jonathan Isaby said, "Taxpayers will be furious that bosses have been suckered into such a terrible deal." This is very crushing, especially that the agency is trying to make savings. "We have to improve procurement across the whole of government, from the smallest guangos to the biggest departments," he said.
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