The UK subsidiary of Nigeria’s Guaranty Trust Bank was fined 7.6 million pounds ($9.3 million) by Britain’s financial watchdog for what it claims are additional shortcomings in the bank’s anti-money-laundering systems and controls.
According to a statement by the Financial Conduct Authority(FCA) on Tuesday January 10, “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”.
GT Bank, according to the watchdog, has not disputed the conclusions and accepted to settle, making it eligible for a 30 percent reduction in the fine, down from the initial 10.96 million pounds ($13.3m).
“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 statement said.
The managing director of GT Bank UK, Gbenga Alade, stated that the bank takes its anti-money laundering responsibilities very seriously and expressed sincere regret over the FCA’s conclusions, noting that the FCA found no indications 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,” Gbenga Alade said in a statement.
For running afoul of the regulations, the FCA fined it 627,323 pounds ($525,000) in August 2013.
Tracey McDermott, the FCA’s director of enforcement, said at the time that “Banks are at the front line in ensuring the proceeds of crime do not enter the UK financial system”.
“GT Bank’s failures were serious and systemic and resulted in an unacceptable risk of handling the proceeds of crime.”
The bank declared at the time that it had complied with the penalties and addressed the problems.
Author-Roberta Appiah
