Standard Chartered hit with $4.8m fine for AML and CFT breaches
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has imposed penalties on Standard Chartered of SGD 6.3 million ($4.8 million) for breaches of its anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements.
In terms of precise figures, a SGD 5.2 million ($3.9 million) fine was given to Standard Chartered, Singapore Branch (SCBS); while a SGD 1.2 million ($911,000) fine went to Standard Chartered Trust (Singapore) Limited (SCTS).
These breaches occurred when trust accounts of SCBS’ customers were transferred from Standard Chartered Trust (Guernsey) to SCTS from December 2015 to January 2016.
MAS found SCBS’ and SCTS’ risk management and controls in relation to the transfers to be “unsatisfactory”.
MAS’ deputy managing director Ong Chong Tee says: “MAS requires financial institutions to adequately assess money laundering risks when deciding whether to accept customers. They should also have in place good systems and processes to monitor customer transactions. We expect financial institutions to remain vigilant by instilling a strong risk culture.”
The transfers occurred shortly before Guernsey’s implementation of the Common Reporting Standards (CRS) for the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters.
According to MAS, the timing of the transfers raised questions of whether the clients were attempting to avoid their CRS reporting obligations.
However, MAS says SCBS and SCTS “did not adequately assess and mitigate against this risk factor, and also failed to file suspicious transaction reports in a timely manner”.
In determining the regulatory action, MAS has taken into consideration mitigating factors. SCBS had pro-actively notified MAS of its internal review on the trust accounts, and SCBS and SCTS management showed “strong commitment” to address the deficiencies identified by MAS.
MAS adds that both SCBS and SCTS have taken “prompt and substantive” remedial measures to strengthen their AML/CFT risk management and controls.
