Nowadays, Technology is an indispensable tool for humans. Although there are many things that technology has brought to people, its importance in developing criminal activities cannot be denied. Money laundering is another area where criminals engage in criminal activities using the latest technology. With the increase in money laundering activities since the beginning of 2020 and the failure of institutions to comply with existing regulations, both regulations have increased and AML penalties have increased. Money laundering, terrorist financing, bribery, corruption, tax evasion, and all other financial crimes have many negative economic and social consequences. Local and global regulations have been carried out for years in order to minimize these negative consequences and to prevent activities such as money laundering in institutions. All local or global regulators, such as the FATF, Wolfsberg Group, and the European Union, guide organizations to combat financial crime.
When looking at the AML penalties in recent years, there is an increase in the total amount of penalties. The main reason for this is that financial institutions are subjected to heavy penalties by regulators due to their disruptions in their compliance processes. To give an example of the increase in AML fines, AML fines given in 2018 were about $ 4 billion, while AML fines given in 2019 increased by about 2 times to about $ 8 billion. In addition, when we examine some of the data announced in 2020, we see that the AML fines given in the first half of 2020 are close to $ 6 billion.When we look at the reasons for AML penalties, it is observed that institutions do not fully implement the “Customer Due Diligence”, “Know Your Customer” and “Monitoring Suspicious Transactions” procedures required by regulators.
In the rest of the article, you can find some AML Penalties news from 2020
Deutsche Bank Fined by New York Regulator for AML Failures
(July 2020)
The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) fined Deutsche Bank Trust Company America and the New York branch of Deutsche Bank AG for AML compliance errors. DFS was also fined for correspondent banking relationships with Deutsche Bank also Danske Bank Estonia and FBME Bank. As a result, Deutsche Bank received a total administrative fine of $ 216.1 million.
FCMC Fines Signet Bank for Breaching AML Rules
(July 2020)
The Finance and Capital Markets Commission (FCMC), a public body that oversees financial institutions in Lithuania, fined the Signet Bank of Latvia 906,610 Euros for failing to comply with the requirements of anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. In addition to not complying with the regulations, the bank has also been fined due to the bank’s inadequate internal control system, customer-related risks and violations, and deficiencies regarding the management of these risks.
Guotai Junan Securities Fined $ 25.2 Million
(June 2020)
The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has imposed an administrative fine of $ 25.2 million on Guotai Junan Securities Limited in Hong Kong for violations of anti-money laundering processes. When we look deeply into the reasons for the AML penalty, it is seen that the institution cannot regularly monitor customer transactions and delays in reporting processes.
BNP Paribas China Unit Receives Fines for Negligence in Anti-Money Laundering
(May 2020)
The Chinese branch of BNP Paribas, the European banking giant, was fined 2.7 million yuan, or $ 378,200, for failing to correctly verify customer identity and also not report suspicious transactions to the Chinese central bank. In addition to this news, another AML Fines report in China is as follows: China Minsheng Banking Corp. was fined 23.6 million yuan and China Everbright Bank 18.2 million yuan by the Bank of China. Additionally, Brokerage Huatai Securities Co. Ltd. likewise, AML was fined 10.1 million yuan for compliance violations.
Kenya Fines 5 Banks $ 3.75 Million for AML Violations
(March 2020)
Equity EQTY.NR, KCB Group KCB.NR, StanChart Kenya SCBK.NR, Co-op Bank Kenya COOP.NR, and Diamond Trust DTK.NR is the 5 banks that faced AML penalties in Kenya. As a result, these five commercial banks operating in Kenya faced administrative fines of $ 3.75 million for flaws and deficiencies in AML compliance processes.
Online Casino Fined £3 Million for AML Failings
(February 2020)
Mr. Green was fined £ 3 million by the Gambling Commission for AML violations. As a result of the audits, it was understood that Mr. Green had not carried out an appropriate risk assessment within the casino.
Avoid AML Fines with Sanction Scanner
The implementation of “Customer Due Diligence (CDD)“ and “Know Your Customer (KYC)” measures in financial institutions are some of the most important components of local and global AML / CFT regulations. With Sanction Scanner AML Screening an Monitoring Software, you can easily perform CDD and KYC transactions in accordance with the obligations. At the same time, with Sanction Scanner Transaction Monitoring Software, financial institutions can create their own rules and scenarios without the need for any coding knowledge, and as a result, they can automatically detect high-risk and suspicious activities.
