China’s Central Bank Fines Zhongtian Securities $216k for AML Breaches

China’s Central bank has fined Zhongtian Securities Co. Ltd. 1.37 million yuan ($216,000) for AML compliance failures.

Zhongtian Securities Co. Ltd. became the first brokerage house to be fined by the Central Bank of China this year. 

According to the Shenyang branch of the People’s Bank of China, Zhongtian was penalized for failure to adequately verify customers’ identities and report suspicious transactions to the authorities while complying with the rules.

The bank mentioned that two of Zhongtian’s senior executives were also fined. Chinese regulatory bodies are increasingly conducting inspections of financial institutions’ compliance measures. 

The widespread campaign is aimed at preventing financial crime risks while primarily focusing on anti-money laundering compliance. 

Earlier on, the central bank made it clear that it would collaborate with several government agencies to conduct a three-year crackdown on money laundering from 2022 to 2024. 

The authorities agreed to use a national risk prevention system to tackle money laundering, improve laws and regulations, and improve analysis and investigations on financial crimes.

In February this year, Ant Group-backed online lender MYBank was also penalized with a 22.37 million yuan fine by the central bank due to repetitive violations including the breach of anti-money laundering rules and credit scoring management.  

Everbright Securities and Ping An Securities are among more than 10 brokerage houses that have been sent warnings by regulatory authorities for violating corporate governance and business compliance so far this year.

Suggested read: China Strengthens Anti-Money Laundering Rules for Financial Institutions