The Hong Kong central bank has fined State Bank of India’s Hong Kong branch HK$7.5 million ($1 million) for breaching the city’s anti money-laundering and counter terrorism financing rules.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has taken disciplinary action under Hong Kong’s Anti Money-Laundering Ordinance brought into force in 2012.
Between April 2012 and November 2013 State Bank of India (SBI) Hong Kong failed to perform a series of key anti money-laundering checks, including doing due diligence on 28 corporate customers, monitoring existing business relationships, and verifying whether its customers were politically exposed persons.
Besides paying the fine, the bank must also submit an independent report to the HKMA, which is Hong Kong’s banking regulator, outlining the remedial action it will take to tackle these internal control failings, it said.
