CSSF Imposed a €226,000 Fine on Maitland Over AML Compliance Failure

Richard Marley
September 16, 2022
2 minutes read
70

Maitland Luxembourg SA received a penalty of €226,000 over anti-money laundering and customer due diligence compliance failure. According to CFFS’ evaluation, Maitland adopted remedial actions following the audit.

Financial Sector Supervisory Commission (CSSF) imposed a fine of €226,000 on Maitland Luxembourg SA over AML compliance failure. Anti-money laundering law breachings were the main reason behind imposed penalty on Maitland. According to the financial regulator, it’s a necessity to impose a penalty for breaking significant anti-money laundering laws. CSSF considered this fine as an administrative penance for “professional obligations of the fight against money laundering and counter financing of terrorism.”

CSSF identified the shortcomings “during an off-site inspection” of the anti-money laundering protocols of Maitland. At the same time, it plays the service provider’s role, facilitating companies and trusts with its services. CSSF found the lapses linked to “clients’ risk assessment, the obligation of ongoing customer due diligence measures, the obligation of cooperation with the authorities.”

Evaluation by the financial regulator on the matter was keenly done to identify the lapses in their system.

According to the report, Maitland followed the precautionary steps in order to remediate the issue, following the audit and it “has sold part of its business to another trust and company service provider.”

“We have no comment to provide at the moment”, Maitland replied when contacted for comments.

Being a specialised PFS, the authorisation of Maitland would have permitted to continue the activities of company domiciliary, management services, customer communication & administrative agent, and family office.

The fund services pending acquisition were announced on 18 May by the Apex Group, which operates with a huge presence in Luxembourg. Moreover, the recovery of Maitland International Holdings’ third-party management business (a group specialised in the fund services’ provision) was also announced. Later this year, it’s expected to complete the acquisition of the Maitland business.

Disclaimer: No warranty is herein provided that the information contained in this document is accurate, up-to-date, and/or complete. In no circumstance(s), does such information constitute legal or any other advice. Any person who intends to use, rely, pass-on, or re-publish the information contained herein in any way is solely responsible for the same. We suggest to verify the information and/or obtain expert advice independently if required.

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IMF Urges Central Bank of Seychelles to Upgrade Transparency and AML Controls
The Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS) has been advised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to have transparent practices and AML controls.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged CBS, the Central Bank of Seychelles, to incorporate refined practices in different accountability and governance areas. These include confidentiality, supervisory & confidentiality policies along with internal AML/CFT protocols.

According to the statement by IMF, CBS is giving information regarding legal structure, mandate, and a few key elements related to anti-corruption arrangements, risk and human resource management, and accountability on its website.

The review of IMF stated, “To better support the public’s perception of the CBS as a well-governed institution, it should consider highlighting these aspects in its annual report, and/or provide additional information on its website, particularly on human capital management, anti-corruption policies and decision-making arrangements.”

As per IMF’s review, CBS needs to work on several elements, including information’s accessibility to its internal governance arrangements. It could be done by maintaining the Annual Report’s respective sections and website. Moreover, it must overhaul the proceedings by publishing its Code of Conduct and Ethics.

“The legal mechanism for confidentiality issues has been established, but the dissemination and disclosure of the confidentiality framework could be enhanced. The CBS discloses basic information on its AML/CFT supervisory powers and policies, as well as on its related internal control framework, but disclosures on the processes and outcomes of its AML/CFT external policies and internal controls are limited,” said CBS Transparency Code Review of IMF.

IMF review said that the ensurance of transparency practices with new functions and powers by CBS would be effective for its own benefit. The practices adopted by CBS must comply with the powers acquired by the coming legislative act.

IMF’s CBS Transparency Code Review said, “In the last few years, the CBS’s regulatory powers have been substantially expanded with the adoption of AML/CFT Act and Financial Consumer Protection Act. Moreover, the forthcoming Financial Stability Act is expected to provide a transparent legal basis for the CBS’s (and other financial sector regulators) actions on financial stability. These legislative acts will require an expansion of the CBS’s transparency practices so that the related CBS activities continue to be appropriately disclosed to stakeholders.”

The review aims to identify the strength and improvement areas of CBS by allowing it to evaluate its transparency practices. The review presents the map of CBS’s transparency choices in comparison to several practices in three different categories (core, comprehensive, and expanded).

Suggested Read: FCA Advises Firms to Embed Data and Technology to Combat Financial Crimes

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CSSF Imposed a €226,000 Fine on Maitland Over AML Compliance Failure

An Overview of Perpetual KYC

The Need for Perpetual KYC in Banking Sector

Recent Crime Cases in the Banking Industry

Criminal Gang in US Charged with Bank Fraud and Money Laundering

Two Former Employees of Major Bank Charged with Loan Fraud

Global Regulatory Authorities Monitoring the Banking Sector

US

UK

Securing Banking Organizations Through Perpetual KYC

What Shufti Pro Offers?

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Let’s prove your customer’s

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