According to Hubbis, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) may withdraw Falcon Private Bank’s banking license because the bank would no longer meet the requirements needed to be recognised as an authorised practising asset manager.
Falcon Private Bank was found by investigators to have transferred nearly EUR 645 million from an account with the Bank’s Singapore operation to accounts affiliated with the then Prime Minister Najib Razak, according to a report by Reuters.
In 2016, Falcon was found by FINMA to have violated money laundering regulations; the bank had failed to undertake sufficient background checks into the business relationships and transactions associated with the now-infamous 1MDB state fund which were booked in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Switzerland.
It is said that FINMA gave Falcon until the end of April 2020 to reinvigorate its operations. Besides, a separate investigation carried out by Singapore authorities surrounding Falcon’s involvement in the 1MDB scandal resulted in the Bank’s Singaporean banking license being revoked.
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