Britain’s FCA Fines Ghanaian Bank for Insufficient AML Regulations

The Financial Conduct Authority of the UK has imposed fines of £5.8 million on Ghana International Bank for poor Anti-Money Laundering controls 

The news agency of Nigeria reported about the fines which were imposed on the Ghanaian bank by the financial conduct authority (FCA) for not responding adequately to the laws of anti-money laundering controls. The FCA claimed the bank gave other lenders correspondent banking services, enabling them to offer goods and payment services they otherwise couldn’t.

It said that the bank did not effectively carry out the additional anti-money laundering inspections necessary between January 2012 and December 2016. It added: “No evidence of actual money laundering was detected, though the risk of money laundering as a result of these deficient systems was significant,” It further stated that the bank has failed to oppose the findings and has agreed with the settlements.

In the response, the GHIB (Ghana International Bank) said that during the process of investigation it has adopted a totally new board of management, which strengthened the anti-money laundering controls significantly. Chief Executive GHIB, Dean Adansi stated: “Under new leadership, GHIB is a fundamentally different bank today, with a healthy balance sheet and the support of its major shareholders,”

Both the bank and the FCA are in complete contradiction as the Britain authority has stated that GHIB failed to identify and assess the threats posed by its correspondent customers of other  financial institutions and properly scrutinise transactions worth £9.5 billion processed on their behalf.

The UK’s watchdog analyzed the Ghanain bank in December 2016 to assess its financial crime controls, the outcome of the assessment identified in the visit concluded that the bank voluntarily agreed not to take on new customers. The fine that has been imposed on the Ghana International Bank by the FCA is £5.8 million (7.1 million U.S. dollars) for failings in its anti-money laundering controls.

The FCA stated: “This restriction remains in place.’’, and the Ghanian bank continues to work with the financial authorities and independent experts to improve the financial crime controls for the future.

Suggested Read: FCA Unveils Three-Year Anti-Money Laundering Strategy to Curb Financial Crime