Imposition of penalties to enforce compliance on Financial Institutions during 2019 and 2020 by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU)
As the regulator for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) in the country, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Central Bank imposed penalties on several financial institutions last year and this year for violating financial rules and regulations.
The Monetary Board of the Central Bank decided to publish the penalties imposed on the financial institutions by the FIU to improve the AML/CFT compliance level.
Penalties were imposed mainly for the violations of Financial Institutions (Customer Due Diligence) Rules, No. 1 of 2016 in relation to third party deposits, obtaining approval for Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), sanctions screening and financial transaction reporting under Section 6 of the FTRA.
Details of the penalties imposed by the FIU during 2019/2020:
July 29, 2019 - Bank of Ceylon - Rs. 3 million.
September 3, 2019 - Nations Trust Bank - Rs. 1 m.
October 24, 2019 - Commercial Credit & Finance - Rs. 1 m.
February 19, 2020 - Sarvodaya Development Finance - Rs. 500,000.
May 18, 2020 - UB Finance Company - Rs. 500,000