The UK's Financial Services Authority has handed a £1.1m (€1.4m) penalty to the UK mortgage lending arm of the conglomerate General Electric, in what is the first fine imposed by the regulator relating to a group's lending processes.

GE Money Home Lending was found guilty of "systems and control failings that resulted in 684 borrowers with a regulated mortgage contract suffering financial loss in excess of £2.3m before redress was later paid to them by the firm", according to a statement from the FSA.