According to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Germany-based business bank had failed to put money-laundering controls in place over a period of five years, despite three separate warnings from the regulator. The fine is one of the largest handed out by the regulator in relation to money-laundering failures. Commerzbank London qualified for a 30% discount on the fine because it agreed to cooperate. The full fine would have been EUR 59 million.
Due diligence checks on more than 1.700 clients of Commerzbank’s London office were overdue by 2017, when the regulator acted. Some of these customers were able to carry on transactions with the bank despite the checks not having been completed because of an ‘out-of-control’ system of exceptions. The bank also failed to fix an automated tool for monitoring money-laundering risks.
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