The Czech National Bank (CNB) has fined ING Bank CZK 5 million for violating the country’s anti-money laundering laws. According to documents on the CNB’s website, ING Bank failed to implement adequate procedures for identifying and controlling clients. The bank also failed to properly ascertain clients’ ownership structure, which violates the anti-money laundering laws.
E15 newspaper reported the fine on Tuesday, and the decision, which became legally effective last week, found that ING Bank committed a breach in 2021 by not applying appropriate strategies for identifying clients and persons authorized to dispose of their property.
The CNB’s investigation also uncovered shortcomings in ING Bank’s processes for managing risks related to international transactions and periodic client checks. Such sanctions are unusual, and banks generally have a high standard of compliance with anti-money laundering laws and sophisticated technological tools for verifying transactions.
ING Bank faced similar problems in the Netherlands, fined EUR 775 million in 2018 for money laundering offenses committed between 2010 and 2016. The bank failed to identify the actual owners of accounts and did not notice unusual transactions passing through them.
ING Bank is a global financial institution with a European base that offers banking services through its operating company, ING Bank. The bank has been operating in the Czech Republic since 1992 and stopped providing personal banking services in 2022, continuing to offer assistance to the corporate sector. This fine reminds all banks that the CNB takes compliance with anti-money laundering laws very seriously and will take appropriate actions to enforce these laws.