Standard Bank UK arm fined US$12.6m for lax controls
Print Edition
Britain’s financial regulator has fined the UK arm of South Africa’s Standard Bank Group 7.6 million pounds (US$12.6 million) for lax anti-money laundering controls of corporate customers linked to people holding prominent public positions.
The Financial Conduct Authority, which along with its predecessor has been cracking down on how banks manage money laundering risks since 2011, said yesterday it was the first time it had brought such a commercial banking case.
“If they (banks) accept business from high-risk customers they must have effective systems, controls and practices in place to manage that risk. Standard Bank clearly failed in this respect,” said Tracey McDermott, head of the FCA’s enforcement and financial crime division.
The FCA reviewed 48 Standard Bank corporate customer files between December 2007 and July 2011. It said all had links with so-called politically exposed people (PEPs) and highlighted “serious weaknesses” in how the bank applied its policies and procedures.
Regulators say that where corporate customers are known to be linked to a PEP through a directorship or shareholding, banks should boost due diligence because these clients are probably in a higher-risk category.
During the relevant period, Standard Bank had business ties with 5,339 corporate customers, of which 282 were linked to one or more PEPs. But it had consistently failed to do adequate enhanced due diligence checks or conduct appropriate levels of ongoing monitoring, the FCA said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
