Hong Kong's Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) has reprimanded and fined BOCOM International Securities Limited (BISL) a total of $2.5 million (19.6 million HKD) for “serious” regulatory breaches, including failures concerning the handling of third party fund deposits and the maintenance and implementation of a margin lending and margin call policy, the regulator said in a statement today.

BOCOM International Securities is a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Bocom International Holdings, which is in turn a unit of Bank of Communications.

According to the SFC, BISL also failed to put in place adequate and effective controls to identify deposits made into client accounts by third parties, hence failed to ensure  Compliance  Compliance In finance, banking, investing, and insurance compliance refers to following the rules or orders set down by the government regulatory authority, either as providing a service or processing a transaction. Compliance concerning finance would also be a state of being following established guidelines or specifications. This designation can also encompass efforts to ensure that organizations are abiding by both industry regulations and government legislation. Understanding ComplianceCompliance is a system of checks and balances that prevents fraud and inefficiencies.Additionally, this also ensures cooperation with federal financial regulations with the ultimate goal of protecting the public and provide needed information to governmental agencies to stop fraud, money laundering, and terrorist funding. Compliance in the financial industry offers stability to the markets and serves to protect customers, workers, and taxpayers from ethical threats that are inherited in individual decisions.Many organizations are also obligated to track and store compliance data. This includes all data that is relevant or belongs to a company, brokerage, etc. that can be used for the purpose of implementing or validating compliance or regulatory reporting.Given shifting regulations and the importance of compliance, the use of advanced software is increasingly being implemented to help companies manage their compliance data more efficiently. This cache includes calculations, data transfers, and audit trails.While finance is a globally unified concept, compliance is not. Regulatory compliance varies across both industries and jurisdictions. For example, the financial regulatory structures of one country may be lacking or different in another. Of note, the most tightly regulated jurisdictions in terms of compliance in the forex industry include the United States, United Kingdom or most European Union countries, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and others. In finance, banking, investing, and insurance compliance refers to following the rules or orders set down by the government regulatory authority, either as providing a service or processing a transaction. Compliance concerning finance would also be a state of being following established guidelines or specifications. This designation can also encompass efforts to ensure that organizations are abiding by both industry regulations and government legislation. Understanding ComplianceCompliance is a system of checks and balances that prevents fraud and inefficiencies.Additionally, this also ensures cooperation with federal financial regulations with the ultimate goal of protecting the public and provide needed information to governmental agencies to stop fraud, money laundering, and terrorist funding. Compliance in the financial industry offers stability to the markets and serves to protect customers, workers, and taxpayers from ethical threats that are inherited in individual decisions.Many organizations are also obligated to track and store compliance data. This includes all data that is relevant or belongs to a company, brokerage, etc. that can be used for the purpose of implementing or validating compliance or regulatory reporting.Given shifting regulations and the importance of compliance, the use of advanced software is increasingly being implemented to help companies manage their compliance data more efficiently. This cache includes calculations, data transfers, and audit trails.While finance is a globally unified concept, compliance is not. Regulatory compliance varies across both industries and jurisdictions. For example, the financial regulatory structures of one country may be lacking or different in another. Of note, the most tightly regulated jurisdictions in terms of compliance in the forex industry include the United States, United Kingdom or most European Union countries, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and others. Read this Term with the Guideline on Anti- Money Laundering  Money Laundering Money laundering is a blanket term to describe the process by which criminals disguise the original ownership and proceeds of criminal conduct by making such proceeds appear to be derived from a legitimate source.Money laundering is an issue that traverses countless industries and sectors, which includes the financial services space. Though criminal money may be successfully laundered without the assistance of the financial sector, billions of dollars’ worth of criminally derived money are laundered through financial institutions each year.This is not entirely surprising given the structure of the financial services industry and the nature of products and services offered by its participants.An ecosystem that involves the management, control, and processing of finances is inherently vulnerable to abuse by money launderers.Money Laundering ExplainedThe act of laundering is committed in circumstances in which an individual or entity is engaged in an arrangement that involves the proceeds of crime. These arrangements include a wide range of business relationships, i.e. banking, fiduciary and investment management.However, the degree of knowledge or suspicion will depend upon the specific offense but will usually be present where the person providing the arrangement, service or product knows, suspects or has reasonable grounds to suspect that the property involved in the arrangement represents the proceeds of crime. In some cases, the offence may also be committed where a person knows or suspects that the person with whom he or she is dealing is engaged in or has benefited from criminal conduct.One of the primary criticisms against cryptocurrencies has been their propensity for money laundering. Their anonymous nature and unregulated network structure make them ideally suited for money launders. Money laundering is a blanket term to describe the process by which criminals disguise the original ownership and proceeds of criminal conduct by making such proceeds appear to be derived from a legitimate source.Money laundering is an issue that traverses countless industries and sectors, which includes the financial services space. Though criminal money may be successfully laundered without the assistance of the financial sector, billions of dollars’ worth of criminally derived money are laundered through financial institutions each year.This is not entirely surprising given the structure of the financial services industry and the nature of products and services offered by its participants.An ecosystem that involves the management, control, and processing of finances is inherently vulnerable to abuse by money launderers.Money Laundering ExplainedThe act of laundering is committed in circumstances in which an individual or entity is engaged in an arrangement that involves the proceeds of crime. These arrangements include a wide range of business relationships, i.e. banking, fiduciary and investment management.However, the degree of knowledge or suspicion will depend upon the specific offense but will usually be present where the person providing the arrangement, service or product knows, suspects or has reasonable grounds to suspect that the property involved in the arrangement represents the proceeds of crime. In some cases, the offence may also be committed where a person knows or suspects that the person with whom he or she is dealing is engaged in or has benefited from criminal conduct.One of the primary criticisms against cryptocurrencies has been their propensity for money laundering. Their anonymous nature and unregulated network structure make them ideally suited for money launders. Read this Term and Counter-Terrorist Financing and various provisions in the Internal Control Guidelines and the Code of Conduct.

Specifically, the regulator found that third party deposits made into client accounts in 2009, 2011 and 2015 by way of cheques and bank transfers were not identified until 2016.

Extensive deficiencies were also identified during the SFC’s review of BISL’s margin lending and margin call policy from December 2012 to November 2016, the SFC said.

Clear message

In deciding the disciplinary sanction, the SFC took into account all relevant circumstances, including the fact that BISL has an otherwise clean disciplinary record.

BISL has also taken steps to revise its policies and procedures in relation to the areas where deficiencies were identified.

The firm has agreed to engage an independent reviewer to conduct a review of its internal controls.

The SFC points out that BISL’s failures are serious, extensive and lasted for a substantial period of time.

“A clear message needs to be sent to the industry that the SFC will not hesitate to take action against licensed corporations that fail to put in place appropriate internal controls to protect their operations and clients”, the regulator concluded.