The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) a monetary watchdog has penalized the UK unit of Nigeria’s Guaranty Trust Bank £7.6 million ($9.3 million) for cash laundering.
According to a press release on Tuesday, the FCA stated the fantastic was imposed due to the failures in GTBank’s anti-cash laundering programs and controls.
Reuters reviews that FCA famous it discovered “serious weaknesses” in programs aimed at stopping cash laundering between October 2014 and July 2019.
“During the relevant period, GT Bank failed to undertake adequate customer risk assessments, often not assessing or documenting the money laundering risks posed by its customers,” the FCA stated in a press release.
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The watchdog added that the weaknesses have been repeatedly highlighted to GTBank by inner and exterior sources, together with the FCA, but GTBank failed to take acceptable motion to repair them.
The FCA additionally disclosed that GTBank has not disputed its findings and agreed to settle, thereby qualifying for a 30% low cost on the fantastic, which might in any other case have amounted to 11 million kilos.
In his response, Gbenga Alade, managing director of GTBank UK, stated the financial institution takes its anti-cash laundering obligations extraordinarily critically and famous the FCA’s findings with honest remorse, including that the FCA discovered no cases of suspected cash laundering.
“We would like to assure all our stakeholders and the general public that necessary steps have been taken to address and resolve the identified gaps,” Alade stated in a press release.
This is the second time GTBank is falling into the dangerous books of the FCA.
In August 2013, FCA fined GTBank 525,000 kilos for critical and systemic failings associated to anti-cash laundering controls.
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