Guaranty Trust Bank’s subsidiary in United Kingdom said it has accepted the fine of £7.6 million pounds ($9.3 million) by British’s financial watchdog anti-money laundering systems and controls offenses.
This translates to N4.16 billion at the Central Bank of Nigeria exchange rate of N548.39 per British Pounds. “The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Guaranty Trust Bank (UK) Limited (GT Bank) £7,671,800 for serious weaknesses in its anti-money laundering (AML) systems and controls between October 2014 and July 2019,” FCA said in a statement on its website yesterday.
Responding to the fine, the bank said in a statement, “Guaranty Trust Bank UK Limited (GTBank UK) has reached settlement with the FCA, accepting findings in relation to historical Anti-Money Laundering (AML) controls in its operations in the period October 2014 to July 2019.”
“The Bank has cooperated fully with the FCA investigation and has agreed a penalty sum of GBP7,671,800, which has been calculated by reference to a proportion of the revenues of GTBank UK over the relevant period and includes a 30 per cent discount for early settlement.”
Explaining further, the bank said, “The FCA’s investigation focused on GTBank UK’s AML controls and steps taken by GTBank UK to remediate these to ensure they operated in line with the relevant requirements.
