Reported by: Rommel Lontayao

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Gatehouse Bank £1,584,100 for failure to conduct sufficient checks on its customers based in countries with a higher risk of money laundering and terrorist financing between June 2014 and July 2017.

The regulator said Gatehouse also failed to undertake the correct checks when some of the customers were classed as politically exposed persons (PEPs). In one instance, the bank set up an account for a company based in Kuwait to aggregate customer funds, and did not require the company to collect information about customers’ source of funds or wealth, which was required under Gatehouse’s anti-money laundering policies.

As a result, over a two-year period, Gatehouse accepted US$62 million into the account without properly vetting the funds for financial crime risks.

Read full report: https://www.mpamag.com/uk/news/general/fca-fines-gatehouse-bank-158-million/423968