FCA fines Santander £108 million for repeated AML failings

A recent enforcement case once again demonstrates that "criminals do not need to be particularly clever or sophisticated to launder funds through a bank. Rather, they can rely on banks failing to implement fundamental AML controls properly," writes Denis O'Connor.

Denis O'Connoris a fellow of both the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales and the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment. He was a member of the British Bankers' Association Money Laundering Committee from 2003-10 and a member of the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group's board and editorial panel between 2010 and 2016. He has been a frequent speaker at industry conferences on financial crime issues, both in the United Kingdom and abroad.

The Financial Conduct Authority has fined Santander UK plc £107.7 million for serious and persistent anti-money laundering (AML) breaches in its Business Banking division. [1] Between December 2012 and October 2017 Santander failed to oversee and manage its AML systems properly, thus severely impacting its oversight of more than 560,000 business customers. Santander had inadequate systems for verifying the information provided by customers at the onboarding stage. The bank also failed to monitor the funds that customers told them would be going through their accounts properly and to compare them to what actually was deposited. As Santander did not dispute the FCA's findings and agreed to settle the case expeditiously, its fine was reduced by 30 per cent from the original level of £154m.