Small British banks are failing to effectively implement anti-money laundering (AML) and sanction risks controls, despite extensive work over recent years to address key issues, the United Kingdom's financial regulator has found.
The global banking sector has yet to adequately make use of the anti-money laundering data it collects from clients and transactions, experts at a summit in the United Kingdom said Thursday.
A decision by the United Kingdom's financial regulator to disclose which banks it is investigating for potential infractions could lead to a slew of legal problems for the agency, say attorneys.
A new practice by the United Kingdom's chief anti-money laundering regulator that embeds exam teams within large banks has some compliance officers concerned that their costs and exposure to penalties could skyrocket.
As the U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority navigates its first week of existence, the agency's newly released business plan promises a tough approach on fighting financial crime with a focus on complex cases.
U.K. financial regulators will likely only get tougher on British banks that violate anti-money laundering laws in the coming year, possibly going so far as to prosecute individuals, according to Jonathan Fisher QC, a London-based barrister.
A recent spate of compliance fines and U.S. investigations has imposed renewed pressure on British banks to improve their anti-money laundering and sanctions programs, say industry sources.
The United Kingdom's banking regulator Tuesday penalized a Zurich-based financial institution and its former anti-money laundering officer a combined 540,000 pounds for broad failures in risk-ranking and enhanced due diligence procedures.
The U.K.'s top financial regulator will launch a broad review this month of whether bank cultures, board practices and business incentives weaken compliance programs at some of the country's largest financial institutions.
The United Kingdom outlined Monday its plans for a new regulatory agency that will oversee consumer protection regulations and anti-money laundering compliance programs at banks.
A new British bank regulator that will assume the Financial Services Authority's oversight duties is unlikely to tighten anti-money laundering compliance regulation for financial institutions, say consultants.
Britain's top banking regulator more than doubled its annual number of anti-money laundering monetary penalties in 2010 and fined financial institutions 2 million more pounds for related violations than in 2009.
The United Kingdom's chief financial regulator fined Royal Bank of Scotland nearly USD $9 million on Tuesday, the agency's largest penalty ever for anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance failures.
The United Kingdom's chief financial regulator is investigating the Royal Bank of Scotland Group for potential compliance violations of U.K. anti-money laundering rules, the bank disclosed Wednesday.
The United Kingdom's chief financial regulator Tuesday fined Barclays PLC more than $4 million for "serious weaknesses" in its securities transaction monitoring reporting, the largest penalty issued by the agency for such problems.