Anti-Money Laundering Activities

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Britain’s financial watchdog, has fined the UK subsidiary of Nigeria’s Guaranty Trust Bank $9.3m for what it says are further failures in its anti-money-laundering systems and controls. “These weaknesses were repeatedly highlighted to GT Bank by internal and external sources, including the FCA, but despite this, GT Bank failed to take appropriate action to fix them,” FCA alleges. The watchdog also said GT Bank had not disputed the findings and agreed to settle, making it eligible for a 30% on the fine, down from the original $13.3m – but “GT Bank’s conduct is particularly egregious as this is not the first time that the bank has faced enforcement action in relation to its AML controls.”  The bank says that it takes its anti-money laundering obligations extremely seriously and noted the FCA’s findings with sincere regret, adding that the FCA found no instances of suspected money laundering. Meanwhile, the highly unpopular governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria has allegedly skipped the country. Some times events are stranger than fiction!