- Chief Compliance Officer and VP of Legal Affairs, Arrow Electronics
By 
Aaron Nicodemus2023-10-06T14:09:00
The recent $25 million in combined penalties levied against South Korean-based Shinhan Bank by three U.S. regulators was the culmination of the bank’s failure over an eight-year period to timely correct deficiencies with its anti-money laundering (AML) and Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) processes.
Shinhan Bank America was fined $15 million by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), $10 million by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), and $5 million by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) for violations dating back to 2015, the agencies said last week. The total amount to be paid was $25 million.
Shinhan Bank’s failure to remediate the issues constituted “willful violations” of the BSA, FinCEN said.
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Fraud remains the leading form of identity-related suspicious activity cited in Bank Secrecy Act reports by a large margin, while technologies enable greater overall risks around exploitation, according to new research from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
Andrea Gacki, the new director at the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, said the agency is working to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding the establishment of an anti-money laundering and sanctions whistleblower program.
The American branch of South Korea-based Shinhan Bank agreed to pay $25 million across settlements with three separate regulators for admitted violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering requirements.
The U.K. has an ongoing problem with money laundering, but recent changes to economic crime law and corporate registration requirements could bring more cases to court, according to consultancy KPMG.
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