‘UK banks must intensify fight against dirty money’
BANK OF ENGLAND DEPUTY GOVERNOR WARNS OF MORE STRINGENT PENALTIES
BRITAIN’S banks must make the fight against dirty money a “top priority” or risk facing more severe fines, Bank of England deputy governor Sam Woods said on Tuesday (22).
Global banks, including UK-based HSBC, Barclays and Standard Chartered, face fresh scrutiny on their efforts to curb money laundering after a cache of leaked documents showed they transferred more than $2 trillion (£1.5tn) in suspect funds over nearly two decades.
Woods said it was vital that banks played their part in fighting financial crime as the “FinCEN” leaks were a good reminder of how criminals will use the financial system for their own ends.
“If the banks get this wrong, then costs for them are very severe, as you have seen in recent years the big fines here in the UK and in the US,” Woods told Bloomberg TV.
“They have been doing a lot but they’ll need to do more, and unfortunately this is one of those t h i n g s
that the job is never done,” Woods said, adding he did not think new rules were necessary at this point.
HSBC has said the information in the reports was historic, while Standard Chartered pointed to investments to improve its control procedures.
Barclays said global banks were supportive of initiatives to improve transparency of how money was held around the world and which should make client due diligence “a lot easier”.
Global spending on anti-money laundering (AML) software was close to $1.5 billion at end-2019 and is expected to exceed $1.9 billion by end-2023,
according to Boston-based advisory firm Aite Group.
“We have seen that growth ourselves,” added Rachel Woolley, global director of financial crime at Fenergo, which provides client data management support to more than 80 banks and financial firms including BBVA, Westpac and BNP Paribas.
“With digital operational resilience a key focus for financial institutions, not to mention the potential wave of AML reform in response to the FinCEN leaks, it stands to reason that significant investment will be made in technology,” Woolley said.
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