(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) Britain's Financial Conduct Authority said it had fined
Santander 107.7 million pounds ($132 million) for 'serious and
persistent' gaps in the Spanish bank's anti-money laundering
controls for more than 560,000 business customers, trend reports with reference
to reuters .
The FCA said on Friday that between Dec. 31 2012 and Oct. 18
2017, Santander's UK arm failed to properly oversee and manage its
anti-money laundering systems.
The fine is the latest action by Britain's financial watchdog,
as it tries to clamp down on poor internal controls by banks that
allow illicit funds to flow through them.
Santander had ineffective systems to verify the information
provided by customers about the business they would be doing, the
FCA said.
'In one case, a new customer opened an account as a small
translations business with expected monthly deposits of 5,000
pounds. Within six months, it was receiving millions in deposits,
and swiftly transferring the money to separate accounts,' Mark
Steward, FCA executive director for enforcement, said in a
statement.
Although the bank's anti-money laundering team had flagged the
account for closure in March 2014, poor processes meant this was
not acted on until September 2015, the FCA said.
Santander UK said it accepted the FCA's civil regulatory
findings in relation to anti-money laundering controls in its
business banking division. The bank received a 30% discount to its
fine for agreeing to settle, the FCA said.
The FCA investigation has concluded and no further action is
anticipated by the UK watchdog or any other authority in respect of
this matter, the bank said.
The FCA has stepped up action against failings in bank money
laundering controls in recent years.
NatWest was fined 265 million pounds in December last year for
failing to prevent the laundering of nearly 400 million pounds, in
the first criminal money laundering case against a British
bank.
The FCA has also fined Standard Chartered and HSBC in the last
three years for anti-money laundering breaches.
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