June 22, 2016
Hong Kong’s securities regulator reported a spike in the number of instances where the city’s financial firms are failing to comply with its anti-money laundering guidelines.
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), which stepped up scrutiny of laundering controls amid pressure to combat illicit fund flows, said its inspections found 223 rule-breaches during the year ended March 31, or 91 percent more than the 117 uncovered a year earlier. The SFC inspected anti-money laundering (AML) controls at major investment banks, brokers, and asset managers, finding problems with the way some firms assessed and reported suspicious transactions.
“We also found failures to conduct enhanced customer due diligence and the appropriate level of transaction monitoring for high-risk customers,” the SFC said in its annual report published on Wednesday. The regulator declined to provide any further information on the breaches.