FCA Slaps £5.8M Fine on Ghana International Bank for AML Lapses
- Despite the lapses, the FCA did not find any evidence of money laundering.
- GIB voluntarily suspended taking new overseas bank clients amid the discovery of the lapses.

The poor controlling measures were found in GIB’s corresponding banking activities, a service it provides to overseas banks. The lapses allowed the clients of GIB to make payments in different currencies and across borders, the services which are otherwise are not allowed to them.
However, the FCA did not find any evidence of actual 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.
“Firms are gatekeepers of the financial system and have vital obligations to ensure they are not used to facilitate or perpetrate financial crime,” said FCA’s Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight, Mark Steward.
Some Serious Lapses
The British financial market regulator detailed that GIB had failed to adequately perform additional checks of overseas banks between 2012 and 2016 when they established a relationship. It also failed to assess if it had checked those overseas banks’ money laundering controls.
Furthermore, GIB failed to undertake an annual review of its overseas bank clients and even did not train its staff on the measures of scrutinizing transactions.
“These failings meant that GIB was unable to identify and assess the risks posed by its correspondent bank customers and properly scrutinize transactions worth £9.5 billion processed on their behalf during the relevant period,” Steward added.
The lapses on the part of GIB were discovered by the FCA in December 2016 during a review visit of financial crime controls. Upon the identification of the lapses, GIB cooperated with the British regulator and agreed to suspend the onboarding of new customers which is still in force.
As GIB did not dispute FCA’s findings and eagerly settled, it received a 30 percent discount on the original penalty of more than £8.3 million.
Last year, NatWest faced a £264.8 million penalty from the FCA for failure to comply with the country’s money laundering regulations.
The poor controlling measures were found in GIB’s corresponding banking activities, a service it provides to overseas banks. The lapses allowed the clients of GIB to make payments in different currencies and across borders, the services which are otherwise are not allowed to them.
However, the FCA did not find any evidence of actual 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.
“Firms are gatekeepers of the financial system and have vital obligations to ensure they are not used to facilitate or perpetrate financial crime,” said FCA’s Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight, Mark Steward.
Some Serious Lapses
The British financial market regulator detailed that GIB had failed to adequately perform additional checks of overseas banks between 2012 and 2016 when they established a relationship. It also failed to assess if it had checked those overseas banks’ money laundering controls.
Furthermore, GIB failed to undertake an annual review of its overseas bank clients and even did not train its staff on the measures of scrutinizing transactions.
“These failings meant that GIB was unable to identify and assess the risks posed by its correspondent bank customers and properly scrutinize transactions worth £9.5 billion processed on their behalf during the relevant period,” Steward added.
The lapses on the part of GIB were discovered by the FCA in December 2016 during a review visit of financial crime controls. Upon the identification of the lapses, GIB cooperated with the British regulator and agreed to suspend the onboarding of new customers which is still in force.
As GIB did not dispute FCA’s findings and eagerly settled, it received a 30 percent discount on the original penalty of more than £8.3 million.
Last year, NatWest faced a £264.8 million penalty from the FCA for failure to comply with the country’s money laundering regulations.