SBP fines top banks for violating instructions

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has imposed around Rs96 million monetary penalties on top banks for violating regulatory instructions, including instructions related to anti-money laundering (AML) and combating financing of terrorism (CFT), a notification said on Friday.
The SBP imposed these penalties during the quarter ended March 31, 2021 on Habib Bank Limited, MCB Bank Limited, MCB Islamic Bank Limited and United Bank Limited.
The details show that the central bank imposed an amount of Rs39.77 million on Habib Bank Limited for violating regulatory instructions pertaining to Foreign Exchange and General Banking Operations. The SBP, in addition to penal action, directed to strengthen its process with respect to identified areas.
The SBP imposed a penalty of Rs10 million on MCB Bank Limited for violating the regulatory instructions pertaining to general banking operations. In addition to penal action the bank has been advised to strengthen its processes with respect to identified areas.
The central bank imposed monetary penalty of Rs37.09 million on MCB Islamic Bank Limited for violating the regulatory instructions pertaining to AML/CFT, Foreign Exchange and General Banking Operations. In addition to penal action, the bank has been advised to conduct an internal inquiry on breaches of regulatory instructions and take disciplinary action against the delinquent officials.
The SBP imposed an amount of Rs10.71 million as monetary penalty on United Bank Limited for violating the regulatory instructions pertaining to CDD/KYC and general banking operations. In addition to penal action the bank has been advised to strengthen its processes to avoid recurrence of such violations.
The SBP from July 2019 started public disclosure of penal action against banks. “Enforcement actions are an integral part of the regulatory regime which involves imposition of monetary penalties and other actions against institutions and individuals for violations of laws, rules, regulations, guidelines or directives issued by SBP from time to time,” according to a circular issued by the central bank.
In order to bring more transparency and strengthen market discipline, SBP has decided to publicly disclose significant enforcement actions. – TLTP