Bank of Tanzania (BoT) has released a statement fining five commercial banks $800000 for breaching anti-money laundering regulations.
I&M Bank received the biggest fine at (ksh29.5m), Equity Bank (KSH26.2M), UBL Bank (Ksh14.6m), Habib African Bank (Ksh7.9 m), and African Banking Corporation (Sh6.5m).
The five banks failed to conduct proper customer due diligence and filed suspicious transaction reports to the Finance Intelligence Unit.
Furthermore, BoT expects the banks to implement corrective measures within 90 days such as making a fresh review of the Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance status, ensure proper documentation is in place and report suspicious transactions to the Finance Intelligence Unit.
Furthermore, the banks should assess the adequacy of internal controls, take necessary steps to ensure controls are robust to deter weakness and take disciplinary action to all staff involved in opening the implicated deposit accounts contrary to KYC requirements.
