China’s Central Bank Fines ICBC & Bank of Chongqing for AML Shortcomings

Chinese banks including industrial and commercial banks of Chongqing have been fined by regulators for insufficient anti-money laundering controls.

The lenders fined more than 60 allegations on the banks of China, specifically in Chongqing the main reason for the inadequacy of the anti-money laundering controls in the financial dealings. The news comes from the Yicai Global, the media group in China, according to the reports the fines were imposed last weekend by various Chinese lenders.

The amount fined to the banking sector of China is CNY44.5 million (6.6 million USD) the last weekend, June 17th as per Yicai Global, these statistics might be incomplete for now. The other penalties for some individuals also exceeded the 1 million CNY (149,300 USD). 

The public revealed the information about the punishment of local banks last year, as per sources, the People’s Bank of China charged over 365 banks and financial institutions with a total amount of CNY 261 million (39 million USD). 

The latest violations from the banks and other financial departments of the country made the lenders impose charges on Chinese banks. The Chongqing department of the Central Bank of China imposed a massive fine of CNY 6 million (895800 USD) on the local branch of ICBC (Industrial and Commercial Bank of China) for failing to assure client identities and submitting audit reports on large and suspicious transactions as required. 

The Bank of Chongqing is required to pay CNY 4 million with the Rural Commercial Bank of Chongqing to pay CNY 2.6 million as a part of fines for the failure of protecting customer data and records while performing transactions with unverified clients.

In the northeast of China, the Jilin branch of ICBC was fined as per reports they also are charged to pay CNY 5.1 million on the same claims of failure and inadequacy as stated by the PBOC’s Changchun branch on June 17.

The local branch of the industrial bank in Guiyang was also penalized for CNY 1.8 million fine as the lender claimed the unfulfillment of customer identification obligations. Moreover, the Bank of Guizhou was fined CNY 2.8 million for the violation of anti-money laundering regulations as per reports of the Central Bank Guiyang arm.