HKMA penalises IOB's Hong Kong branch for breaching AML regulations

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority imposes a penalty on Indian Overseas Bank's Hong Kong branch for violating anti-money laundering regulations from May 2021 to January 2024

Indian Overseas Bank’s Hong Kong Branch (IOB-HK) was penalised for not complying with the region’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorist Financing Ordinance (AMLO) between May 2021 to January 2024, the lender said in an exchange filing.

 

The  Chennai-based Public sector lender did not disclose the amount of penalty imposed on it for breach of norms by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA).

 

In an exchange filing, IOB said the bank and its branch operating at Hong Kong have taken necessary preventive actions to avoid such recurrence in future and strengthen its internal processes in this regard. The impact of the said action on the Bank is not material, it added.

 

There were significant deficiencies in IOBHK’s transaction monitoring mechanism and management oversight of the bank’s anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) controls, HKMA said.

 

HKMA had asked IOB to conduct a review on the transaction alerts generated by the monitoring system and submit a remedial plan to address the contraventions. The regulator had also directed the bank to submit a report prepared by an independent external advisor assessing whether the remedial measures are effective, it added.