ABN AMRO fined for Anti-Money Laundering deficiencies

A DFSA investigation has revealed that over the period from January 1st 2013 to December 31st 2014, ABN contravened a number of DFSAs Rules requiring it to implement appropriate safeguards to prevent opportunities for money laundering.

The investigation was conducted after the company received internal complaints concerning the operation of its Private Banking International business line in the DIFC (PBI). In response to the complaints, ABN initiated an internal investigation which revealed that certain of its staff, within the DIFC branch, had engaged in practices that breached ABN’s own policies and DFSA administered laws and Rules.

The DFSA imposed the fine because ABN did not:
• ensure that its anti-money laundering (AML) related systems and controls operated effectively;
• monitor and supervise the activities of all its PBI employees and ensure that they were adequately trained, understood and adhered to ABN’s AML policies and procedures;
• undertake adequate risk based assessments of every customer or conduct adequate customer due diligence (CDD) for many of its clients; and
• undertake adequate transaction monitoring of client accounts.

The DFSA reduced the amount of the fine after taking into consideration ABN’s initiative to act quickly on the issues raised in the complaints, to self-report the misconduct to the DFSA, to take significant steps to remediate its deficiencies and to co-operate fully with the DFSA’s investigation.