The High Court of New Zealand has levied a penalty of $770,000 on CLSA Premium New Zealand Limited, a licensed derivatives issuer, for AML/CFT violations. This decision has come after the country’s Financial Markets Authority (FMA) launched legal action against CLSA in June 2020.
As per New Zealand’s AML/CFT law, the FMA is responsible for ensuring AML/CFT compliance and CLSA is a reporting entity. During 2015-2018, CLSA failed to conduct customer due diligence (CDD) and end existing business relationships when CDD could not be completed. The company also failed to report suspicious transactions and maintain adequate records. These violations occurred in the context of transactions worth over NZD 49.5m ($34.9m) by 10 different customers. Around NZD 40.8m ($28.73m) of this amount came from just two customers.
CLSA has admitted non-compliance with New Zealand’s AML/CFT law. The High Court took into consideration the seriousness of the violations as well as CLSA’s cooperation with the FMA while determining the penalty.
Source: The High Court of New Zealand