Photo: VCG
China’s central bank has increased the punishment for financial institutions that fail to adequately guard against money laundering, imposing fines of over 10 million yuan ($1.4 million) for the first time ever.
China Minsheng Banking and China Everbright Bank were fined 23.6 million yuan and 18.2 million yuan respectively for failing to properly perform required customer ID checks, keep customer data and transaction records, and report large or suspicious transactions, said statements posted Friday on the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) website. They were also accused of conducting transactions with unidentified customers.
The PBOC also fined brokerage Huatai Securities 10.1 million yuan for similar violations.
Regulators last year signaled an end to the practice of fining institutions a few hundred thousand yuan for money laundering violations and the start of an era of dramatically higher penalties, a senior bank compliance insider told Caixin.
The central bank has strengthened money laundering regulations in recent years. In 2018, it doled out penalties totaling nearly 190 million yuan for violations, 41% more than the previous year.
Read the full story on Caixin Global later today.
Contact reporter Guo Yingzhe (yingzheguo@caixin.com)
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