StanChart fined in Singapore for money laundering breaches
BANKING
Monday, 19 Mar 20186:17 PM MYT
HONG KONG: Standard Chartered Plc units were fined S$6.4mil (US$4.9mil) for failing to meet Singapore’s anti-money laundering requirements, less than two years after it was punished for a similar breach in the city-state.
The lender’s Singapore branch was ordered to pay S$5.2mil and its local trust unit was fined S$1.2mil by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. The breaches occurred when certain trust accounts were transferred from Guernsey to Singapore from December 2015 to January 2016, the MAS said in a statement on Monday.
The regulator found that risk management and controls in relation to the transfers were “unsatisfactory.” The timing raised questions over whether the clients were attempting to avoid their reporting obligations, the MAS said.
Regulators in Europe and Asia have been investigating the role that Standard Chartered staff may have played in transferring US$1.4bil of private bank client assets from Guernsey to Singapore before new tax transparency rules were introduced, Bloomberg reported in October.
‘Fell short’
“We regret that we fell short of our own standards in adequately mitigating the risks involving some clients who might have attempted to avoid reporting obligations under the Common Reporting Standard by transferring their trusteeships,” Standard Chartered said in an emailed statement.
Chief Executive Officer Bill Winters has been struggling to resolve misconduct issues during his three-year tenure at the Asia-focused lender, some of which predate his appointment.
Standard Chartered received a similar penalty in Singapore in December 2016, when it was fined S$5.2mil for anti-money laundering lapses relating to 1Malaysia Development Bhd.
“We self-identified this issue,” Winters said when asked about the Guernsey matter at a news briefing in Hong Kong, speaking before the MAS announced the penalties.
“The important thing, apart from the fact that we recognized our own shortcomings, is that we’ve made the investment necessary to make sure that we don’t have to repeat this sort of event.” - Bloomberg
Read more at https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2018/03/19/stanchart-fined-in-singapore-for-money-laundering-breaches/#rJeUT8bF21yQrjQp.99
