The United Kingdom subsidiary of Nigeria’s Guaranty Trust Bank has been fined over alleged usage of the bank to carry out money laundering activities.
The financial institution was issued a fine of £7.7 million by the regulator of the financial services industry, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
In a statement on Tuesday, FCA stated that the bank’s policy against money laundering was weak between October 2014 and July 2019.
GTB UK is facing the second sanction over money laundering, having incurred a fine of £525,000 in August 2013 “for serious and systemic failings.”
The regulator alleged that GTB has failed to monitor transactions and business dealings by its customers to ensure it is not fraudulent.
FCA stated that the bank has, over time, been indicted by both internal and external sources, while also adding that GTB has put in no effort to address the lapses.
The watchdog said GT Bank has not disputed the findings and agreed to settle, making it eligible for a 30 percent discount on the fine, down from the original 10.96 million pounds ($13.3m).
FCA noted that “GT Bank should have acted quickly to put in place adequate AML controls following its fine in 2013 but it failed to do so. GT Bank did not develop a plan that was capable of addressing its AML weaknesses, exposing it and the broader market to financial crime risks for a prolonged period,” said Mark Steward, FCA’s executive director of Enforcement and Market Oversight.
READ ALSO: Kidnapping: Billionaire Evans Re-Arraigned After Four Years Trial
“Firms must protect themselves and those dealing with them from financial crime risks, especially money laundering. The FCA is determined to ensure the market for financial services is safe, clean and trusted with robust systems and controls in place to stymie financial crime.”
The watchdog, which regulates the conduct of 50,000 companies in the country, expects functional AML controls to be installed by the firms it oversees to curb threats from persons and organisations using financial services firms to bypass checks aimed at blocking them from enjoying illicitly acquired assets.
On his part, the Managing Director of GTBank UK, Gbenga Alade, said the bank 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.
“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 said in a statement.
He said, “As a responsible financial services institution that is committed to best practices, GTBank UK takes its AML obligations extremely seriously.”