SBP imposes collective fine of over Rs270m on 4 banks

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has imposed heavy fines on four commercial banks over procedural violations of foreign exchange and anti-money laundering laws.

According to the central bank, the collective fine to the tune of Rs270 million was imposed on the banks for violations of regulations that were observed during a quarter ending on September 30.

The banks that have been fined include Bank Islami Ltd, Soneri Bank Ltd, the Bank of Punjab, and Albaraka Bank, Pakistan Ltd.

Bank Islami was fined Rs116.269 million for procedural violations in the areas of Customer Due Diligence (CDD)/ Know Your Customer (KYC) and general banking operations. Whereas, Soneri bank was asked to pay a fine of Rs59 million over procedural violations in the areas of CDD/KYC.

The Bank of Punjab and Albaraka Bank were fined Rs10 million and Rs86 million, respectively, for procedural violations in the areas of general banking operations, and violations in the areas of AML/CFL (Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism).